US-China trade talks: "A country shouldn't rush in getting any agreement with the USA"

CGTN Europe interviewed Juan Carlos Baker, Former Mexican Deputy Trade Minister.

Transcript

00:00Juan Carlos Baker is a former Mexican deputy trade minister.

00:04He gave me his thoughts on Donald Trump's comment that he would be happy to see tariffs on China cut to 80%.

00:10It should be seen as a token of goodwill.

00:14Clearly 80%, it is still a very high tariff,

00:18which, by the way, it's a breach of the international obligations of the United States under the WTO,

00:25the World Trade Organization.

00:2780%, 60%, 50%, any number on that amount, on that degree,

00:35is a violation of the United States commitments internationally.

00:39Not that Donald Trump has ever been deterred by taking those decisions,

00:44but clearly the signaling that it could go down from 145% to 88%,

00:52to me is just a token of goodwill.

00:55I don't believe that there's any mathematics or any economic rationale behind the numbers.

01:01We know that Donald Trump is known for just throwing figures around without any real thinking behind those numbers.

01:11So I think it's just a gesture of goodwill.

01:14Now, you negotiated on behalf of your country for the MCA, the U.S. trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

01:21Do you see any risks of collateral damage for Mexico from this current U.S.-China trade fight?

01:27And what kind of lessons can be learned from the MCA negotiations?

01:31Well, I wouldn't call it collateral damage, but clearly my country and several others,

01:37Vietnam, Europe, South America, are right now waiting and seeing which is the outcome of these talks,

01:46because the U.S. has been pressuring partners and friends around the world to cut short its relationship with China

01:56in order to be able to better negotiate with the United States.

02:01Now, obviously, this is also a bridge of the diplomatic relations.

02:05No country is to be told how it should conduct its diplomatic or trade relationship with a third party.

02:13But nonetheless, I believe that this world where two countries are fighting to become the hegemon of the world

02:21clearly is going to have influence on how other countries relate.

02:25Now, in terms of lessons, I believe that what we went through, Mexico went through between 2016 and 2018,

02:32show three things, Paul.

02:34The first one is that it is possible to negotiate with the United States.

02:39And I'm saying this because there's this idea that any deal that you strike with Donald Trump is not worth the paper is written on.

02:48But nonetheless, the USMCA was established in 2020, and as of 2025, it is still ongoing.

02:55So I believe that if conditions are right and the results please, to some degree, what the U.S. is expecting,

03:02it is possible to obtain a long-lasting deal with the United States.

03:06The second lesson that I will tell you is that countries should not rush into getting any agreement with the United States.

03:13I know that I just mentioned how important it is in the given context of the economic uncertainty.

03:19But clearly, these deals need to be thought very carefully because the consequences of them will be several-fold in years to come.

03:30So you really need to take your time when doing this.

03:33And finally, we should also probably take a good look on how the internal dynamics in the United States influence this type of deals.

03:44Yes, I know that we all are very fixed and very focused on Donald Trump and what he might or might not do.

03:50But also, the governors of particular states, Texas, California, Congress, clearly play an important role,

04:00especially in trade policy in the United States.

04:02So we should not be fooled in the sense that everything just relies back on what Donald Trump wishes.

04:08We need to also pay attention to the other stakeholders in the room.