First, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led a successful boycott of President Joe Biden’s Summit of the Americas.
Then he lectured Biden, in the White House, for over half an hour, on Biden’s failed energy, immigration, and drug policies.
Now Lopez Obrador is openly mocking Biden’s effort to seek fair treatment for American energy companies in Mexico.
Responding to questions about the Biden administration’s efforts to roll back subsidies for Mexican state energy companies, Lopez Obrador said, “They are going [to give us a call] so that we can explain the energy policy of our country.”
He then directed his staff to play the song “Oh How Scary” during the press conference, which includes these lyrics:
Oh how scary, look how I’m shaking…
That the dollar is going up, and the peso keeps going down,
Oh how scary, look how I’m shaking.”
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai had earlier requested a dispute settlement pursuant to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement over a law passed by Mexico in March 2021, which gave power generated by Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission priority over power produced by private companies, many of which are owned by American corporations.
“We have tried to work constructively with the Mexican government to address these concerns, but unfortunately, U.S. companies continue to face unfair treatment in Mexico,” Tai said.
Lopez Obrador dismissively brushed aside the Biden administration’s complaints, noting that Biden just signed a joint statement with him just last week highlighting the two nations’ “broad and deep cooperation” on energy. Energy companies from the United States are “very satisfied, very pleased. There is no problem,” the Mexican president said.
He was far less dismissive of President Donald Trump’s policy priorities. After Lopez Obrador liberalized Mexican immigration enforcement, causing the 2019 border crisis, Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs on all goods crossing the southern border. He then quickly caved to Trump’s demands, eventually agreeing to cooperate with Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which ended the border crisis.
The playbook for getting Lopez Obrador to cooperate is out there. Biden is just too weak or too incompetent to use it.
Until that changes, expect him to continue walking all over the Biden administration.
