Mexico City — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday appointed Raquel Buenrostro as his new economy minister, replacing Tatiana Clouthier, who resigned from the post on Thursday.
The high-level appointment comes as Mexico is embroiled in a trade dispute brought by the United States and Canada, under the trilateral USMCA free trade agreement’s consultation mechanism, regarding the Mexican government’s energy policy, which is viewed by the two trade partners as being detrimental to the private sector and investment.
Since 2019, Buenrostro served as head of the country’s tax authority (SAT), part of the Finance Ministry, and has a track record of more than 20 years in public administration.
“I have already made the decision to appoint Raquel Buenrostro as Economy Minister (...) she has done a very good job because tax collection has not decreased, I believe that what counts are the facts”, the president said in his routine morning press conference on Friday.
“She is an exemplary public servant,” he said.
During her tenure at the head of SAT, Buenrostro managed to get large corporations from different sectors to meet their overdue tax payments that had been in dispute for years.
Francisco Cervantes, president of the Business Coordination Council (CCE), a body that represents the private sector, received the appointment with positive expectations. “There is good communication with her and well, we welcome her. Let’s work with her,” he said in a radio interview with journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva on Friday.
The business representative added that hoped Buenrostro would continue with a new industrial policy that Clouthier launched last week in conjunction with business leaders and international organizations.
Cervantes said that Buenrostro “learns very fast”. As the head of SAT, she gained experience, and raised tax collection in difficult times for the Mexican economy, he added.
“The most important thing is that in the economy ministry there is a good team and people who deal with the issues at hand. If it leans on teams with expertise in foreign trade and [the needs of ] small and medium-sized businesses, it can play a good role,” he added.
López Obrador has yet to name Buenrostro’s successor as head of SAT.
