So says Mexico's Ambassador to the US in a WSJ opinion column today. Trade wars are messy, and even though Mexico's retaliation will injure US industries (twice - because some of these industries would likely benefit from liberalization of the trucking sector) and Mexican consumers, in the current environment I think it is great that Mexico is reacting so quickly. This effectively sends a signal to Congress and to Obama that they are not free to pursue protectionist policy without bearing consequences.
Regarding our ongoing discussion of the legality of Mexican retaliation, the Ambassador notes Mexico's current unilateral exposure program, implying that perhaps Mexico's retaliatory tariffs will play on the gap between NAFTA rates and WTO MFN rates. This gap will diminish over time, if applied MFN rates go down, reducing the space for WTO-consistent retaliation.
