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MEXICO CEMENTS RELATIONS WITH CHILE; DISPUTE EMERGES ON RICE IMPORTS FROM URUGUAY.

Article Excerpt
Mexico's trade relations with two South American countries have gone in different directions in the past few weeks. Commercial relations appear to be strengthening with Chile, with the two countries committed to expanding their bilateral agreement, which has been in place for 10 years.

Mexico's relations with Uruguay, however, appear to have hit a bump in the road because of a dispute regarding Mexican imports of Uruguayan rice. Mexican producers are complaining that Uruguay is shipping rice to Mexico at below-market prices, which threatens to undermine Mexico's rice industry.

Calderon, Bachelet seek to expand trade agreement

Mexico and Chile moved to fortify their commercial relations during a visit by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to Mexico City in late June. Bachelet and Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon agreed to explore ways to increase the scope of their bilateral trade agreement. In 1999, the two countries implemented an expanded trade agreement that was more in line with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), building on a series of accords signed during the 1990s (see SourceMex, 1991-12-18 and 1994-01-26). The expanded accord increased the number of categories of products eligible for tariff reductions and added sections dealing with rules of origin, dispute-resolution mechanisms, and health codes for animals and plants (see SourceMex, 1998-03-25 and 1999-07-28).

Since the expanded...

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