Panama-Mexico free trade agreement causes footwear sector concern
03/04/2014
President of CICEG, the Guanajuato footwear industry association, Ysmael López García, said in recent comments on the subject that he feared the new treaty would make it easier for importers to bring cheap shoes into Mexico, making it harder for local producers to compete.
“There are serious concerns over shoes coming into Mexico from Panama,” said Mr López. “We know that some companies ship shoes through Panama and sometimes even put a new label on them.” This is a reference to shoes coming into Mexico through a third country from origins on which Mexico has placed footwear import restrictions through a process known as triangulation. Shoes made in China are reported in Mexico as the most likely to arrive in this way.
Mr López said Mexican negotiators had taken care to insist that respect for Mexico’s trade protection measures and for systems of certification of origin should form part of the new treaty with Panama, but he insisted there was “a hidden risk” of triangulation in the new set-up.
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