| MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Mexico's deputy commerce minister
under the previous administration, Luis de la Calle, is expected to be
appointed special trade negotiator of Mexico's new President Vicente Fox,
industry officials said this weekend.
Top sources in the sugar industry and trade officials close to the
deputy minister said de la Calle, who was the lead negotiator for a series
of trade issues, including sugar, under former President Ernesto Zedillo,
was expected to accept the post.
"We have been informed that Luis de la Calle will continue as
deputy minister in charge of trade negotiations in a post under the new
Economy Ministry. This is good news to the industry," an official
with the National Sugar & Alcohol Industries Chamber told Dow Jones
Newswires.
The former Trade Ministry under Zedillo, popularly known as Secofi, has
been transformed into a new Economy Ministry under Mexico's new President
Vicente Fox, who took power on Dec. 1. Mexico has been embroiled in a more
than three-year long bitter trade dispute with the U.S. over the size of
Mexico's access to duty-free U.S. sugar import quotas and U.S. imports of
the controversial sweetener high fructose corn syrup.
The bitter sweetener row has been taken to dispute panels both under
the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The appointment of de la Calle has yet to be made officially by the Fox
administration. |