Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso met today with Thomas Donohue, President and CEO of the United States Chamber of Commerce to discuss the relationship between Mexico and the U.S., especially regarding bilateral trade and the North American competitiveness agenda.
The Foreign Secretary and Mr. Donohue agreed that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had a positive effect on the economies of Mexico, the United States and Canada, and that tariff barriers would deeply affect the workers, producers and exporters of all three countries. They agreed to work together to further the region’s economic integration.
Foreign Secretary Videgaray acknowledged Mr. Donohue’s leading role in the CEO Dialogue, a forum where the business sector identifies and proposes policies and programs for regional competitiveness. Mr. Donohue said that he would continue to participate in this forum and in the High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) to broaden the economic relationship between Mexico and the United States in order to contribute to North American prosperity.
Lastly, the Foreign Secretary and Mr. Donohue said that, in order to boost North American competitiveness, Mexico, the United States and Canada must continue to make their borders more efficient, strengthen the productive chains, and deepen the cooperation agreements on regulations and energy.
In 2016, trade among the NAFTA members totaled USD 1.047 billion, meaning that intra-regional trade has increased 246% since NAFTA was signed.
NAFTA has also led various industries in the three countries to become deeply integrated, and their productive chains support companies and jobs in all three countries. One example of this is the five million U.S. jobs that depend on trade with Mexico.
