The private sector will participate, but not in the 'small room' format for 6-7-8 people, an official once said, who then promised to achieve tariff improvements by the end of the year in sectors like automotive and steelmaking, which remain in similar situations at year's end. In the business sector, they believe the reinstatement of this mechanism should be prompt, given the significant progress made by COMCE and the National Agricultural Council (CNA). The 'small room' will have to be rebuilt or reconfigured under Medina Mora's leadership. Medina Mora's arrival at the council's presidency is not smooth, and the challenges will be great in the face of a fragmented sector and a leadership that will be under the shadow of lobbying by Cervantes at the National Palace, on a parallel path not necessarily aligned with this business group. For now, the new business leader started with a first speech friendly to the Sheinbaum government, distancing himself from his more critical character assumed during his tenure at COPARMEX. However, within the CCE, they estimate he will perform in a firmer style than his predecessor, who earned criticism from a sector of the body that felt abandoned by Cervantes, who avoided a confrontational agenda at the Palace. With the T-MEC as one of the central issues on the business agenda for 2026, José Medina Mora arrives at the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) with the business sector's expectation that he will reinstate the 'small room' for the T-MEC review, which will formally begin in June. Although the government of Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out the installation of this working group coordinated by the CCE to accompany trade agreement negotiations with other countries, the business sector has publicly defended it as a 'fundamental' mechanism in the commercial dialogue. In the business environment surrounding Medina, they assure it is possible that he will position the CCE as the government's main advisor in upcoming negotiations and even does not rule out that, officially or more discreetly, experts who have participated in past negotiations will be called upon. With a speech obedient to the government, Medina Mora assumes the presidency of the CCE. 'Currently we do not have that small room, an effort was made, but it was installed with someone who did not continue,' said a source, referring to Judith Garza, promoted by outgoing president Francisco Cervantes during the government transition period, but without great support within the council. Since September, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard had already been proposing the disappearance of this mechanism. 'If these leading players from the main chambers are brought back in, it can be reactivated very quickly,' the source said. I see the president as more inclined to listen to the private sector.
