NAFTA states strengthen commitment

The U.S., Canada, and Mexico wish to minimize obstacles impeding free trade among them according to the top economic representatives from those countries.

Mexican Minister of the Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos said to the local press that the main goals for trade in North America are to work together, foster competition, and encourage employment. Along with U.S. counterpart Ron Kirk and Canada’s Stockwell Day, the three met yesterday in Dallas and pledged to improve envormental standards and ensure fair labor regulations.

In addition, Mateos and Kirk discussed the uncertain future of a program permitting Mexican freight trucks to enter the U.S. but whose funding was halted by the Obama administration. Mexico retaliated by raising taxes on ninety U.S. imports yet Kirk admitted that not all those tariffs have been implemented. For his part, Mateos was non-committal over what will happen to resolve that dispute:

Mexico's Secretary of Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos sidestepped a question asking if Mexico might lift the tariffs in advance of any resolution of the cross-border trucking issues.

He noted that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was meeting with Mexican Transportation Secretary Molinar Horcasitas in Washington soon to discuss the problem.

Image- MSNBC (“Mexican trucks drive on an international bridge leading to Texas.”)
Online Sources- SDPNoticias.com, EFE, MSNBC, AFP, The Latin Americanist