Today, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade Mary Ng met in-person, for the first time, to mark the one-year anniversary of the entry into force of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). With this meeting, Mexico, the United States, and Canada reaffirmed their commitment to North American supply chains and economic competitiveness, which have created significant economic growth and benefits for people and workers in all three countries. The USMCA has strengthened the region’s competitiveness and reinforced it as the world’s most dynamic economic bloc.
The entry into force of the Agreement on July 1, 2020 opened a new era in North American trade and economic relations. The re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement updated our trilateral partnership by modernizing and strengthening our rulebook to ensure that our economies and the region remain competitive, inclusive, and sustainable. The USMCA has also equipped the three Parties with resources to enhance resiliency in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, setting our economies firmly on the path to growth and recovery.
While in Mexico, the three ministers – a historic all-female group – met with diverse entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups who shared how the USMCA is creating new opportunities across the continent. They also held a working lunch with representatives from some of Mexico’s leading business organizations and discussed ways to enhance competitiveness and strengthen regional supply chains. The three ministers also visited the Federal Center of Conciliation and Labor Registry and the Federal Labor Tribunal, where they saw first-hand the role of these institutions in the implementation of Mexico’s labor reform, in place since May 2019, and emphasized their commitment to leading the fight against forced labor globally. The ministers also engaged bilaterally to advance work on shared priorities and discuss issues of importance to their bilateral trade relationships.
This visit served to highlight the important ongoing work to implement the USMCA. It also highlighted the importance of collaboration and cooperation in key areas, and all three ministers remain committed to ongoing engagement through an honest and open dialogue as well as shared people-to-people and business-to-business ties.
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