Walmart Throws In a Cool $1.3 Billion into Mexico

U.S. retailing giant Walmart has announced that would invest an additional $1.3 billion in Mexico, adding 10,000 more people to its extensive payroll in the North American country.
Mexican papers have described the investment as a snub towards President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to impose hefty taxes on American companies moving jobs overseas, but Walmart said it is reinvesting the money it earned in Mexico and is strengthening its logistical infrastructure to keep pace with current growth.
Over the past four years, Walmart has invested $2.6 billion in Mexico, becoming the country’s largest private sector employer. The retailing giant has employed 200,000 people, running more than 370 stores in many cities across the country.
The investment was announced by Walmart de Mexico CEO Guilherme Loureiro at the presidential palace in Mexico City last week.
Mexico’s President, Enrique Pena Nieto, has expressed happiness at the investment, saying his country has received $127 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) since he took office four years ago.
According to CNN, Mexico is in talks with President-elect Donald Trump on how to renegotiate NAFTA, the free trade deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The news channel has warned that scrapping the free trade agreement would lead to a loss of jobs in all countries.
Although Trump has often vowed that he would slap a 35% tariff on any U.S. company that sends jobs to Mexico, reports say American trade laws do not allow such an action.
Arrived in Mexico in 1991, Walmart has 28,000 suppliers in Mexico and an average 4 million people shop at its stores every day.
Walmart has operations in several other Latin American countries, including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, but its operation in Mexico is far greater and expansive.