Industry calls for government official to go
The dispute between the Mexican government and the local footwear industry is intensifying. The members of the country's confederation of industrial chambers have instructed their president, Ismael Plascencia, to present a call for the resignation of a government official.
The official at the centre of the dispute is Carlos Arce, who is in charge of overseas investment in Mexico at the ministry for the economy. Mr Arce made a statement recently to the Mexican parliament saying that the jobs the country may be about to lose in footwear and other manufacturing sectors, when tariffs on cheaper imports from China end in January, would give way to new jobs in service industries such as retail.
Mr Plascencia's cross-sector organisation said today that it was clear Mr Arce had no interest in industry and that it was, therefore, wrong for him to be involved in negotiating with the footwear industry in the current dispute.
"Mexico's problem is not a lack of competitiveness, but a lack of competence on the part of the government," Mr Plascencia commented.
