Mexico presents balance of the North American Summit: “There was no discrepancy”

After three days of meetings with the US and Canadian delegations, the Government of Mexico presented the results of the dialogue with its partners, within the framework of the North American Leaders Summit, held last Tuesday in the capital mexican.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stressed that the meeting was “very productive and fraternal” and asserted that “there was no discrepancy”, contrary to what his adversaries thought.

Subsequently, the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, presented a balance of the agreements reached at the meeting. First of all, the foreign minister highlighted the “good relations” between the governments of the three member countries of the free trade agreement known as T-MEC.

“Just a few years ago, when this government began, it was in question whether or not North America had a common future,” recalled the foreign minister, who assured that for Lopez Obrador there was no doubt that the path was strengthen ties in the region.

As for the pacts cited by the official, there are those related to economic development, labor mobility, environment, security, public health and racism.

1. Strengthening of economic links

Among the agreements reached, the secretary highlighted the agreements aimed at promoting the integration and economic growth of North America, among which he celebrated the formation of a committee to promote import substitution, a proposal by the Mexican president.

In this regard, the foreign minister explained that the group will be represented by twelve officials, four from each country, whose efforts will focus on ensuring that at least one 25% of imports regional trades from Asia to occur in North America.

“For Mexico, they would mean million-dollar investments,” said Ebrard, who reported that according to forecasts from the Ministry of Finance, the substitution could mean an increase of two percentage points in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In a meeting with business leaders from the three nations, the Secretary of the Economy, Raquel Buenrostro, specified on Tuesday that among the sectors that Mexico will prioritize to reduce Asian dependency are the electric, the electronicmedical devices and equipment, pharmaceuticals, electric mobility, as well as part of renewable energy, according to La Razon.

2. Labor mobility

The chancellor stressed that “for the first time in history“From trilateral relations, migration motivated by work issues is being discussed. “It had never been agreed to talk about it in terms of the entire region,” said the official.

Ebrard pointed out that it was agreed to strengthen cooperation and operations for the regular and safe entry of migrants. In this sense, he mentioned that at the summit the Canadian policy to temporarily employ farm workers and the extension of a US program that grants entry permits for humanitarian reasons to citizens of other countries, which allows migrants to work in the country.

For its part, Mexico pledged to facilitate the entry of remote workers from the US and Canada, known as digital nomadsafter the boom observed since the pandemic.

On other issues, the foreign minister said that at the request of the president, Mexico will work in 2023 and 2024 to facilitate citizenship for 1,250,000 Mexican migrants with the US Government.

3. Clean energy

Regarding the energy issue, Ebrard reported that Mexico agreed to reduce by up to 35% greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, doubled the generation of clean energy.

The foreign minister stressed that Mexico produces a third of its energy from renewable sources and that it generates less carbon than the US. He also stressed that in the last two years, the country reduced its emissions by 13%.

He also mentioned that during the summit the sound plana project focused on the development of clean energy and the electric and electronic mobility industry, in which the US and Canada agreed to participate.

4. Strengthen security

Regarding the issue of regional security, the parties agreed to work on the control of chemical precursors to produce synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl.

“We are very concerned about fentanyl to the three countries,” said the foreign minister, who informed that other countries will be invited to participate in the control of this type of narcotics.

In the case of Mexico, Ebrard stressed that the main concern is the traffic of weapons from the US to the country.

“If there was any doubt, in the recent operation to arrest Mr. Ovidio (Guzman) it was possible to see the weapons that are there and why it is important to control that,” the official explained.

5. Public health

Regarding public health, the foreign minister reported that it was agreed to form a health security working group, following the lessons learned during the coronavirus crisis. The team is tasked with creating and presenting a plan to jointly address health risks such as influenza and future pandemics.

6. Indigenous peoples and racism

On other issues, the parties also agreed to guarantee the protection and support of native peoples, as well as undertake a common fight against racism.

“It is the first time that we have an understanding of that level of hierarchy to work the three countries against racism, which in the case of our communities, especially the United States, is extremely important,” Ebrard said.

“There are many other specific agreements,” the foreign minister concluded, celebrating the increasingly “better and closer” relationship between North American leaders.

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