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Financial Times 2017: Chill wind blows through Mexico’s industrial powerhouse

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Financial Times 2017: Chill wind blows through Mexico’s industrial powerhouse

As published in Financial Times

Northern business capital of Monterrey assesses its future without a US trade deal

It was not the grand spectacle typical of the launch of a multimillion-dollar plant. But in Monterrey, Mexico’s northern industrial capital, it was significant that American metal-stamping company Trans-Matic held an event in the Donald Trump (https://www.ft.com/donald-trump)  era.

“I want to congratulate you on a gutsy move,” said Sergio Argüelles, chief executive of FINSA, a Mexican developer that owns the surrounding industrial park. “They did it because we all know projects like this benefit both our countries. You cannot flip the switch on the US-Mexico relationship from one day to the next,” he told the FT.

The new plant is relatively small: $12m invested with 55 full-time employees. But Trans-Matic is still sticking its neck out given that President Trump, who has called the North American Free Trade Agreement (https://next.ft.com/content/36384ed4-e7a8-11e6-893c-082c54a7f539) (NAFTA) “the worst trade deal ever” and sworn to end it, has publicly shamed US companies that manufacture abroad as being unpatriotic.

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