North America vows to strengthen economic ties, Mexico energy row
rumbles on
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[January 11, 2023] By
Jarrett Renshaw and Dave Graham
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The United States, Mexico and Canada on Tuesday
vowed to tighten economic ties, producing more goods regionally and
boosting semiconductor output, even as integration is hampered by an
ongoing dispute over Mexico's nationalist energy policies.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Mexico City and
pledged to beef up supply chains after weathering serious disruptions
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lopez Obrador said Mexico would help Biden clamp down on the trade in
synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is blamed for thousands of U.S. deaths,
as the leaders also promised to reduce their countries' carbon footprint
and tackle inflation.
"We're working to a future to strengthen our cooperation on supply
chains and critical minerals so we can continue to accelerate in our
efforts to build the technologies of tomorrow - right here in North
America," Biden said in a joint news conference with his fellow leaders
after their meeting.
Lopez Obrador said the region would promote economic development by
creating a committee for import substitution to make North America less
dependent on other parts of the world.
The White House said the three countries would improve legal pathways
for migrants, and Lopez Obrador again urged Biden to press Congress to
enact measures that would regularize the migration status of millions of
Mexicans in the United States.
The United States said the region would in early 2023 organize a
semiconductor forum to increase investment in the strategic high-tech
industry dominated by Asia.
The White House said coordination would be needed on semiconductor
supply chain mapping to identify needs and investment opportunities in
making chips that are used in everything from telecoms to carmaking and
defense.
Mexico's hopes of benefiting from the push to boost semiconductor output
have been undermined by the energy dispute, with Washington and Ottawa
starting formal dispute settlement proceedings against Mexico's policies
in July.
The spat, which centers on Mexico's efforts to give priority to its
cash-strapped, state-run energy companies at the expense of private
investors, was being closely watched at the summit. The leaders did not
answer questions on it at the news conference.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had suggested energy would not
feature prominently in Tuesday's talks, noting that a resolution process
was under way and the three leaders did not want to turn the summit into
a dispute panel.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador meet at the National Palace
during the North American leaders summit in Mexico City, Mexico
January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
"I wouldn't imagine it's a major issue in today's summit," he told
Mexican radio, while noting Trudeau was likely to raise the matter
in separate talks with Lopez Obrador on Wednesday.
MIGRATION
The Biden administration has focused much of its attention with
Mexico on containing illegal crossings at the southern U.S. border,
and policy analysts argue Washington is often reluctant to let other
issues complicate dealings on migration.
On Monday, Canadian International Trade Minister Mary Ng put across
her country's concerns about Mexico's energy policies and their
potential effects on Canadian investments in a meeting with Mexican
Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro.
Ng said it was important to find a "mutually acceptable resolution"
to the dispute, and also flagged concerns about the treatment of
Canadian mining companies in Mexico.
Biden and Trudeau met earlier on Tuesday, and the U.S. leader said
he would visit Canada in March, according to the White House. As
their meeting started, Biden said the region should aim to be "the
clean energy powerhouse in the world."
Biden also stressed "strengthening our supply chains so that no one
can arbitrarily hold us up."
Under the North American Drug Dialogue (NADD), the three countries
would adopt an "updated strategic framework" to address threats
posed by banned narcotics, the White House said. This would include
greater information-sharing on chemicals used to make drugs
including fentanyl.
The White House said the three were also committed to curbing
methane emissions from solid waste and wastewater by at least 15% by
2030 from 2020 levels.
They would also create a virtual platform to give migrants
streamlined access and information on legal ways to enter Mexico,
the United States, and Canada and make them less likely to rely on
smugglers, it said.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Dave Graham; Additional reporting
by Diego Ore, Raul Cortes, Steve Scherer, Liz Diaz, Stephen
Eisenhammer, Ismail Shakil, and Tim AhmannEditing by Alexandra
Hudson, Alistair Bell, Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)
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