MEXICO CITY, March 12 (Reuters) - Canadian and Mexican officials on Thursday reaffirmed the importance of maintaining the trilateral free trade agreement between their countries and the U.S., amid signals from Washington it could be interested in bilateral deals.
Canada's ambassador to Mexico Cameron MacKay and Mexican deputy trade secretary Luis Rosendo Gutierrez both told a conference in Mexico City that maintaining the trilateral U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement was a priority for their nations.
The meetings follow an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday of two new trade investigations into alleged forced labor and industrial overcapacity among 16 major trade partners.
The move seeks to restore tariff pressure after a Supreme Court ruling last month struck down significant portions of the administration's trade program.
Mexico is among the countries that could be targeted by the investigation into excess capacity under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a legal provision that allows the U.S. to investigate foreign trade practices deemed unfair.
However, Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard downplayed the potential fallout, saying the bulk of Mexican trade falls under the USMCA pact and is not subject to Section 301.
The U.S. did not list Canada, the United States' second-largest U.S. trade partner after Mexico, as among the countries that could be subject to investigation.
(Reporting by Adriana Barrera and Raul Cortes; Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Sarah Morland)
