Mexico and Canada pledged to deepen ties and work to strengthen the free trade pact they share with the United States, during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Mexico City on Thursday.
The two leaders announced an agreement on a new comprehensive partnership and a security dialogue focused on issues such as transnational crime and drug-smuggling.
Bienvenida oficial al primer ministro de Canadá, Mark Carney. Palacio Nacional https://t.co/vO7uyScnWZ
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) September 18, 2025
“Today, we’re beginning a new era of elevated cooperation,” Carney said during a news conference with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Sheinbaum said the partnership would “bring a new era of further strengthening economic ties” between the two nations, and expressed confidence the agreements would bear fruit in the near term.
“Mexico and Canada will continue walking together, with mutual respect and with a certainty that cooperation is the path to overcome any challenge,” she said.
Carney concurred, adding that “our efforts will be strengthened by working together.”
New rounds of bilateral meetings are set for the coming months, as well as greater collaboration on security issues, agriculture, energy, finance, health and the environment.
“At this hinge moment, Canada is deepening our relationships with our long-standing partners,” Carney said. “Mexico is central to those missions.”
According to the CBC, Carney’s stated goal was to find ways to work with Mexico to preserve free trade in North America, “or at least as much of it as can be saved from the most protectionist U.S. administration in a century.”
Carney also focused on developing a bilateral trade relationship “that operates independently of the whims of the White House, and can survive whatever fate lies in store” for the renegotiated USMCA, the CBC reported.
“Together, we will build stronger supply chains, create new opportunities for workers and deliver greater prosperity and certainty for both Canadians and Mexicans,” Carney said.
Sheinbaum has said Mexico wants to increase bilateral trade via maritime routes to avoid shipping through the U.S.
Action on such a trade corridor is lacking. Mexico has multiple ports on each coast whereas Canada’s two primary ports — Montreal and Vancouver — lack the infrastructure to handle an increase in maritime trade.
Another suggestion is for Mexico and Canada to jointly produce goods for growing Asian and South American markets through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, of which the U.S. is not a member.
Trump and the USMCA review
With widening economic uncertainty due to protectionist tariff policies, U.S. President Donald Trump cast a long shadow at the bilateral talks.
A fundamental reason for Carney’s visit was the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact (USMCA), but Trump’s trade threats have made political and business leaders nervous.
“Trump looms over this visit,” Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, told The Associated Press. “Mexico and Canada now share a common threat from the U.S.”
The three North American nations simultaneously commenced public consultations earlier this week, ahead of a mandatory review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA) set for next year.
Do you want to weigh in on the upcoming USMCA negotiations? Here’s how
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said an evaluation of the USMCA — via public comment — will take place through the end of the year to prepare for negotiations over a possible extension of the agreement.
Carney said on Thursday that the individual reviews ahead of next year’s collective discussions will strengthen each country’s economy.
Mending fences
This week’s visit continues Canada’s efforts to repair bilateral relations after Mexico was understandably offended shortly after Trump’s election, when Canadian officials hinted that Canada “would be better off without Mexico.”
The fence-mending began in earnest in June when Carney met with Sheinbaum at the G-7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. In a social media post at the time, Carney spoke of strengthening Canada’s partnership with Mexico on trade, energy, and agriculture.
Last month, Sheinbaum hosted Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Finance and Revenue Minister François-Philippe Champagne to build on the bilateral talks. A week later, Danielle Smith, premier of the province of Alberta, was in Mexico City to meet “key partners in energy, financial services and manufacturing.”
With reports from CBC, Reuters, El País and The Associated Press
