Mexico has lately assumed a role of paramount importance to every American: the No. 1 trade partner of the United States, a critical partner in curtailing migration at the U.S. southern border, and the country in which deadly fentanyl is synthesized using precursor chemicals imported from China and then trafficked into U.S. communities.
Yet Mexican officials who laud trade between the two countries also make comments in the same breath indicating that Mexico would look to China if there were disagreements with the United States on trade matters. Outgoing Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena recently said “Mexico will have to look for other paths” if tensions rise with the United States and extolled China as a “country that is constantly looking out for Mexico.” Juan Ramón de la Fuente, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s pick for foreign minister, recently told El País, “we are going to have the opportunity to review and strengthen relations … with China.”
Connor Pfeiffer is the director of congressional relations at FDD Action and a senior advisor at the Forum for American Leadership.
Ryan C. Berg is the director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he also heads the Future of Venezuela Initiative. Twitter: @RyanBergPhD