US Treasury Secretary Visits Mexico
- December 5, 2023
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Mexico City this week to advance cooperation with her Mexican counterparts in combating illicit financing and trafficking of fentanyl and
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Mexico City this week to advance cooperation with her Mexican counterparts in combating illicit financing and trafficking of fentanyl and strengthen Mexico’s role in her country’s supply chains, Treasury officials said Monday.
Yellen’s trip from Dec. 5 to 7 will include meetings with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as the country’s central bank governor and Treasury secretary, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
Lopez Obrador indicated earlier in his morning conference that Yellen would visit the Latin American country this week to “work on tax issues” with Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O, and that for his part he would meet with her on Thursday.
The Secretary of State’s trip comes as the Treasury Department announced on Monday the creation of a fentanyl “strike force” that will pool agency resources, including the Office of Counter-Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations division, to crack down on drug trafficking.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed last month to step up cooperation to stem the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals, which Mexican drug traffickers often mix before distributing them into the United States.
Fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids are responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year. The creation of this task force comes as the Treasury Department has increased sanctions on fentanyl logistics in Mexico in recent months.
“The Treasury Department will use every tool at its disposal to prevent drug traffickers from selling this poison in our country,” Yellen said in a statement.
During her trip, Yellen will also promote Mexico’s role as a leading destination for supporting U.S. supply chains to make them more resilient and advance national security interests, Treasury officials said.
Among the issues he plans to discuss are U.S. tax incentives for electric vehicles made in North America and new Treasury rules that limit the amount of Chinese-controlled content allowed, which could impact Chinese investment in Mexico.
SANCTIONS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The US Treasury Department has been sanctioning Mexican cartels and their money laundering structures for years. While these measures have led to the destruction of individual cartels, these efforts have done little to curb the cross-border drug trade as a whole.
The business is worth between $20,000 million and $30,000 million a year, said Earl Anthony Wayne, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2011 to 2015.
“Somehow this money ends up going back to the cartels,” said Wayne, now a professor at the School of International Service at American University. “Neither the US nor Mexico could find this money.”
A senior Treasury official said Yellen will discuss with her Mexican counterparts and financial institution leaders ways to step up efforts to combat illicit drug financing, including better coordinating investigations as drug traffickers “continue to innovate.” (Reuters).
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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