The European Union and Mexico are “committed” to finishing talks to revamp their decades-old trade agreement this year, according to the EU’s top trade official. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström met with Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso and Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villareal for two days this week in Mexico City, after which they pledged to scale up their meeting schedule while reaffirming their commitment to a comprehensive, wide-ranging new accord. “This is an ambitious but feasible goal. We want to send a clear signal to the world about the importance of strengthening – not weakening – the rules that govern international trade,” said the EU trade chief on Monday 8 May. Negotiators from the two sides are next due to meet from 26-30 June, with meetings planned for September and November in a bid to meet this objective. The ministers’ level meeting comes at a time when both the EU and Mexico are facing heightened trade-related challenges. In Europe, elections at the national level have already shown the effects of trade, globalisation, and migration to be a growing source of anxiety among voters, though the results of France’s presidential election this past weekend have helped quell some...