Mexicos largest movie chain threatens to stop buying U.S. popcorn if free trade ends
Source: Bloomberg
Mexico’s largest movie chain threatens to stop buying U.S. popcorn if free trade ends
As Trump's administration prepares to renegotiate NAFTA, Mexico’s largest theatre chain says it could export its $10 million of popcorn a year from elsewhere.
By ERIC MARTIN
Bloomberg
Mon., Feb. 6, 2017
As U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration prepares to renegotiate NAFTA, the head of Mexico’s largest movie theatre chain is warning that an end to free trade could convince him to buy his popcorn from Argentina instead of the U.S.
Cinepolis de Mexico, the world’s fourth-largest cinema chain, buys about $10 million a year of American kernels from farmers in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, according to Chief Executive Officer Alejandro Ramirez.
He said his company already studied sourcing the corn from Argentina after Trump’s campaign and victory helped push the peso to record lows against the dollar. For now, the U.S. still wins. But a tax of as little as 2 per cent could tip the scales, he said.
While automakers such as General Motors and Toyota have born the brunt of Trump’s NAFTA displeasure, Cinepolis shows how key U.S. exports that are unrelated to manufacturing could become collateral damage. Ramirez, who heads a business chamber including the nation’s biggest multinational companies, said his group is working with its business partners in the U.S. to educate politicians there on the value of economic integration.
Read more: https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/02/06/mexicos-largest-movie-chain-threatens-to-stop-buying-us-popcorn-if-free-trade-ends.html
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