U.S., Canada, Mexico discuss Mexican energy policy, labor issues

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Flags of the U.S., Canada and Mexico fly next to each other in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. August 29, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

OTTAWA/WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S., Canadian and Mexican authorities discussed concerns over Mexican energy policy and labor issues, representatives from the three countries said on Friday as they met in Vancouver for the second anniversary of a regional trade pact.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she has been raising U.S. concerns about Mexico's plans to tighten state control over the energy sector for over a year.

In March, she sent a letter to Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier saying that U.S. companies were facing arbitrary treatment, with over $10 billion of U.S. investment in Mexico at risk.

Tai also raised concerns with Mexico over the investment climate in Mexico and its treatment of U.S. investors, which she said impacted manufacturing in the southeastern United States, her office said earlier.

Asked about so-called "enhanced safety inspections" of vehicles crossing from Mexico into Texas, which snarled truck traffic and sparked protests by Mexican truckers earlier this year, Mexican Deputy Economy Minister Luz Maria de la Mora said the three countries had discussed avoiding having local governments take actions on the border that impact "integration."

The officials met for the second anniversary of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact.

The United States and Canada plan to meet to discuss disputes over the lumber trade, Canada's International Trade Minister Mary Ng said.

"It is an important sector, it employs millions of Canadians and we know that the way forward is to find a solution with the United States," Ng said.

(Reporting David Lawder in Washington; Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Kylie Madry, Anthony Esposito and Raul Cortes in Mexico City; editing by Diane Craft)