The United States and Mexico, along with Canada, represent an economic powerhouse. The foundation of North American competitiveness is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and we reaffirm our commitment to its full implementation for the benefit of workers’ families, including full compliance with its labor provisions and active engagement with private sector stakeholders sector and civil society. Through active coordination of our economic policies, we will make our supply chains more resilient and expand manufacturing in North America. We look forward to working on this and other related issues at the 10th North American Leaders’ Summit (NALS) in Mexico later this year.
Rising inflation is affecting the well-being of families in both our countries and requires strong, immediate and coordinated action. That is why we are committed to fighting inflation together by speeding up bilateral trade facilitation and reducing trade costs. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement fosters the free flow of goods without barriers, which fosters innovation that boosts productivity and builds resilience, helping both countries fight inflation and supporting families. As part of joint efforts to improve food security, Mexico plans to purchase up to 20,000 tons of powdered milk from the United States to help Mexican families in rural and urban communities. In addition, Mexico will buy up to one million tons of fertilizer (ammonium sulfate) from the United States to distribute to surviving farmers and will continue to buy animal feed to help small producers.
Borders that are more resilient, more efficient and safer will strengthen our common trade. We are committed as never before to completing a multi-year joint effort to modernize the US-Mexico border infrastructure for projects along the 2,000-mile border. The joint effort seeks to align priorities, unite border communities and make the flow of trade and people safer and more efficient. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act includes $3.4 billion to undertake 26 major construction and modernization projects at land ports of entry on the northern and southern borders. These land port modernization projects will create good-paying local jobs, enhance safety and security, and make the economy more resilient to supply chain challenges – all while serving as models of sustainability and innovation. Mexico has pledged to invest $1.5 billion in border infrastructure between 2022 and 2024.
The next US-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) in September will focus on strengthening mechanisms to create safer and more efficient corridors for trade and commerce, promoting an environment that encourages investment to create more and better jobs for our people in both countries. We reaffirm our efforts to create a more inclusive workforce that is better educated, more competitive and better qualified to meet the needs of the 21st century economy. We reiterate our commitment to outreach to understand stakeholder considerations for increasing investment and strengthening supply chain resilience, especially in strategic areas such as semiconductors and information and communication technologies. We will focus our development efforts on climate solutions and the development of southern Mexico, with its vast human potential and significant opportunities for trade, conservation and clean energy.
Addressing the shared challenges of climate change, we resolve to foster a business environment that promotes a greener, cleaner North America, recognizing the importance of investing in and promoting renewable energy. We are committed to tackling methane emissions from oil and gas and other sectors, accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles and deepening our efforts to seek nature-based solutions, enabling our two countries to become world leaders in clean energy and actions to combat climate change. In support of the Global Methane Pledge and the Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway, Mexico and Pemex, in cooperation with the US, will develop an implementation plan to eliminate routine flaring and venting in onshore and offshore oil and gas activities and identify priority investment projects.
Through the Advocate Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities, we reaffirmed our commitment to work together to address major security issues affecting our nations, including the challenges of fentanyl, arms trafficking and human trafficking; and to reduce levels of drug abuse and addiction. We committed to deepening our cooperation to combat transnational criminal organizations that incite violence in both our countries. We confirmed strong operational efforts among law enforcement agencies to address these heightened security efforts. We committed to creating a US-Mexico operational task force to disrupt the flow of fentanyl into our countries.
Building on the commitments at the Summit of the Americas made by twenty-one countries in the hemisphere under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, we are taking immediate and coordinated action to manage the flows of migrants arriving in our countries. We have joined efforts to address the underlying economic and security drivers of migration and, recognizing that development must be at the heart of all migration policies, we will accelerate and expand international cooperation programs that focus on the most marginalized communities. At the same time, we will maintain strong border enforcement policies while ensuring full protection of human rights.
The United States and Mexico reaffirmed our commitment to establish a bilateral working group on labor migration pathways and worker protections. We will work to promote greater worker protections as part of a labor mobility strategy for migrant workers seeking access to legal avenues. Mexico and the United States will also convene a task force to strengthen our cross-border response to child migration, a phenomenon that has significantly affected both of our countries and places young people at unnecessary risk. We also reaffirm our commitment to improving economic and social conditions across the region, creating decent employment opportunities as viable alternatives for potential immigrants, and helping to address the root causes of immigration across America.
The tragic deaths of immigrants at the hands of people smugglers in San Antonio further strengthens our resolve to combat the multi-billion dollar criminal industry that preys on immigrants and to increase our efforts to address the root causes of immigration. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico have coordinated to arrest and prosecute those who endanger the lives of vulnerable migrants, including through the work of Joint Task Force Alpha and its Mexican partners. This year our countries will celebrate 200 years of official diplomatic relations. As neighbors, friends and family, we are united as two nations sharing a future.
