MEXICO CITY — A group representing U.S. manufacturers on Wednesday told Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that an economic shutdown due to the novel coronavirus could weaken North America’s response to the pandemic.
U.S. business lobbies have been pressuring Lopez Obrador to label certain industries “essential” so that health emergency measures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus in Mexico do not halt key operations on both sides of the border.
“At a time when we need to ramp up the production of personal protective equipment, lifesaving equipment and medicines, we cannot afford to have any of these critical supply chains shut down,” the National Association of Manufacturers, the group representing U.S. companies, said in a letter to the president.
The economies of Canada, Mexico and the United States are deeply integrated after decades under NAFTA and its recent successor, with manufacturers used to moving parts and products seamlessly across…
