While Trump threatens to end NAFTA, Mexico seeks to expand its business in Latin America

President Donald Trump has routinely threatened to break the trade agreement with Mexico into pieces.

So Mexico is looking for a Plan B.

The country is doubling free trade and seeking partnerships in Latin America, which is also changing the tone on trade issues.

This year, for the first time, 94% of the goods moved free of taxes between the borders of the Pacific Alliance, a trading block that includes Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru. Formed in 2011, it accounts for half of the trade in the region and covers about 200 million people.

The most important
Facing the third round of NAFTA negotiations, countries still have not resolved key differencesMexico has strengthened free trade with the countries of the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American economic bloc The country has also opened for economic negotiations with the European Union and China
(CNNMoney) - President Donald Trump has routinely threatened to break the trade deal with Mexico into pieces.

So Mexico is looking for a Plan B.

The country is doubling free trade and seeking partnerships in Latin America, which is also changing the tone on trade issues.

This year, for the first time, 94% of the goods moved free of taxes between the borders of the Pacific Alliance, a trading block that includes Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru. Formed in 2011, it accounts for half of the trade in the region and covers about 200 million people.

"We are negotiating as a group of countries that agree on free trade," Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said in New York on Wednesday. Videgaray spoke with the presidents of Colombia, Chile and the Minister of Commerce of Peru.

The Mexican chancellor can not say the same about Trump. The third round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations between Canada, Mexico and the United States begins Saturday and the main issues remain unresolved.

Some see the alliance as a key part of Mexico's plan if Trump withdraws from NAFTA, also known as NAFTA.

"The Pacific Alliance is a new frontier that will continue to move with or without the United States," said Sergio Guzman, an analyst at Control Risk, a global consulting firm. "Countries are seeing the United States, not just rhetorically, but NAFTA, as less and less a dependent partner."

The Pacific Alliance represents a shift to Latin America, a region historically closed to global trade. Latin American countries are now heading in the opposite direction, eliminating tariffs and opening up their economies.

Mexican officials traveled earlier this year to Brazil and Argentina to begin talks to potentially buy more soy and corn, two products that Mexico buys almost entirely from the United States.

Mexico is also in talks with the European Union and has flirted with the idea of ​​free trade agreements with China.

Brazil is leading negotiations with the European Union to reach an agreement in principle with the South American trade bloc known as Mercosur.

Argentina, a member of Mercosur, knows the dangers of tariffs and protectionism. With barriers in almost every product for years, Argentina was once the most expensive place in the world to buy an iPhone.

President Mauricio Macri, who came to power in 2015, ended tariffs for computers, tablets and other electronics this year.

The results: computer prices in Argentina fell by 30% in July from a year ago and sales increased by 70%, according to information from the Argentine Ministry of Production. This country also came out of its recession this year.

The most important
Facing the third round of NAFTA negotiations, countries still have not resolved key differencesMexico has strengthened free trade with the countries of the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American economic bloc The country has also opened for economic negotiations with the European Union and China
(CNNMoney) - President Donald Trump has routinely threatened to break the trade deal with Mexico into pieces.

So Mexico is looking for a Plan B.


The country is doubling free trade and seeking partnerships in Latin America, which is also changing the tone on trade issues.

MIRA: These are the risks of renegotiating NAFTA
This year, for the first time, 94% of the goods moved free of taxes between the borders of the Pacific Alliance, a trading block that includes Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru. Formed in 2011, it accounts for half of the trade in the region and covers about 200 million people.

"We are negotiating as a group of countries that