MI’s Mexico Foreign Press Chatter – May 2, 2025

mayo 2, 2025
8:13 am

One day, we will have a note that doesn’t discuss tariffs. This is not it, though. President Trump walked back some, but not all, of the tariffs imposed on the auto sector, heeding to pleas from industry executives. Still, GM pulled its financial guidance, citing limited visibility and noting that the impact from tariffs could be ‘significant’. Other companies also flagged up the matter during their quarterly earnings calls, with Coca-Cola highlighting lower demand from Hispanics, both in the US and Mexico, while Airbnb noted Canadians are eschewing US destinations, benefitting Mexico. Bloomberg continued to highlight the relative outperformance of the Mexican economy, which narrowly avoided a technical recession in the first quarter, while the Peso posted a strong print in April. Still more helpfully, Bloomberg also presented a selection of underrated value Mezcals for those worried about tariff-driven price increases. Bottoms up!

Elsewhere in the US-Mexico relationship, the LA Times had a long read on how President Sheinbaum is galvanizing Mexicans against Trump’s tariff and drone threats by reviving the historic narrative of U.S. aggression, positioning Washington as the enduring enemy. More pragmatically, though, Mexico reached yet another preliminary agreement with the US to comply with its water obligations, as reported by The New York Times.

In other business news, the FT reported on Pemex’s dire financial condition, and the implications for its long-suffering suppliers. More optimistically, Bloomberg covered fintech Clara’s new funding round, while Reuters covered the ongoing expansion of Mexico’s largest port, Manzanillo. Reuters also reported the announcement of a gradual introduction of a 40-hour work week.

On security, the NYT reported the Attorney General’s conclusion that the infamous Teuchitlán ranch which some groups searching for missing relatives had denounced as an ‘extermination camp’, was, in fact, merely a training and recruiting site. Meanwhile, the WSJ had a particularly interesting story on the ‘global surge’ of cocaine, with global authorities concerned about production spreading beyond Colombia, noting ‘plots of coca plants have surfaced in remote parts of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras’.

Shifting gears, the WSJ profiled Macario Martínez and his real-life rags-to-riches story, going from sweeping Paseo de la Reforma to viral music sensation. According to the note, ‘Martínez’s rise from obscurity to fame has resonated in a relatively poor country with limited social mobility. He has emerged as a working-class folk hero’. For those in New York, make sure to check out the Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show, whose theme this year is Mexican modernism, featuring the work of architect Luis Barragán. And good news for F1 fans: the Mexico City Grand Prix will stay on the calendar until at least 2028, after securing a new contract.

Lastly, on this week’s MexMoves, Damian and Eduardo explore Mexico’s growing water crisis, interviewing Cole Frates, Co-Founder of Renewable Resources Group and Rosario Sánchez of Texas A&M. They also break down Q1 earnings from top Mexican companies and unpack the latest telecom regulations and what they mean for the sector. You can listen to it here.