Secretary of Economy
Today and tomorrow, May 18, we will hold the first Meeting of the Free Trade Commission (CLC) of the Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) in which, on behalf of Mexico, I will have the honor to preside. together with my counterparts Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative, and Mary Ng, Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade.
This meeting is of particular importance since it is the first trilateral meeting of ministers responsible for trade since the entry into force of the T-MEC. On this occasion, we will recount the progress made since July 1, 2020, when the three countries put into effect a new set of disciplines and rules to boost our trade and investment relationship.
As President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has stated on various occasions, the T-MEC plays a fundamental role for its administration, and is without a doubt a tool for the economic reactivation of our country and the region. Well used, it will allow us to ensure a better quality of growth as we overcome the effects of the pandemic on our economies and societies.
This will be an occasion to reiterate Mexico’s position as a key and strategic partner in North America. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is the need to strengthen supply chains in the region. The T-MEC allows Mexico to be a key piece in the supply chain relocation process and offer its competitive advantages such as costs, proximity to the United States and Canada markets, a qualified workforce, as well as the flexibility and adaptability of our productive sector.
In addition, the T-MEC has allowed us to expand the coverage of disciplines to ensure that our region develops an inclusive and sustainable environment. In this sense, we will have the opportunity to discuss issues of common interest such as the implementation of provisions on environmental issues, labor issues and areas of cooperation that seek to integrate more SMEs and sectors that have traditionally remained on the sidelines of integration opportunities such as women, youth and indigenous people, to regional value chains.
The T-MEC has also laid the foundations for an integration of the North American digital economy, which became more dynamic as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. On this occasion, I will have the opportunity to review the way in which the provisions contained in the T-MEC in matters of intellectual property, digital commerce and commercial facilitation, among others, have been implemented to ensure that this dimension of our integration is materialized. for the benefit of our countries.
This meeting is a historical event in itself, not only because it is the first in the T-MEC era, but because it is the first time that three women committed to regional integration and with a progressive social agenda are at the forefront of the implementation of a Core treaty to promote the growth and development of one of the most competitive regions in the world.
The discussions that we will hold between the three countries will allow us to reaffirm our commitment to inclusive, sustainable and competitive productive integration. Our message to colleagues Mary Ng and Katherine Tai at the T-MEC CLC meeting is clear: Mexico is the best partner to ensure the region’s competitiveness. We have all the elements, since the public, private and worker sectors are fully committed and willing to work to achieve an integration of North America and face the challenges that the pandemic and the new times have imposed.
In this new era of North American integration that begins with the T-MEC, open dialogue and effective communication with our counterparts in the United States and Canada will be one of the key pieces to ensure that we achieve the results that we all expect from this agreement. . Without a doubt, this first ministerial meeting will be an opportunity that we will take advantage of to strengthen ties with our partners and to reiterate Mexico’s interest in continuing to advance in the construction of a competitive, inclusive and sustainable North America.
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