By Ken Salazar U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
The recent meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador reaffirmed a new era of cooperation fostered by our governments and drew a blueprint for the future of our bilateral relationship—a future in which a prominent role for the private sector in our economic integration will be crucial for the prosperity of the people of North America.
Our countries face unprecedented global challenges resulting from an ongoing pandemic, inflation, global food shortages linked to an unprovoked Russian war in Ukraine, China’s predatory trade practices, and disruptive climate change. As neighbors, partners, and family, our countries jointly tackle long-term challenges such as migration and security through comprehensive mechanisms such as the United States-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities.
In the early 1980s, few people imagined how integrated our economies would become. After the 1994 implementation of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade in goods and services between our countries increased by 503 percent, representing more than $2 billion in daily commerce.
While our economic integration was already profound, the United StatesMexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) is elevating our shared prosperity even higher, while providing mechanisms to address trade disagreement.
The U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue that followed the July 12, 2022, meeting between our two presidents served as an ideal forum in which to further define our cooperation under the auspices of the USMCA.
The pandemic underscored the need to bring our supply chains closer to home and the USMCA represents the perfect mechanism through which to do that while providing certainty for investors, safeguarding the rights of North American workers, and protecting the environment. Likewise, the North American Leaders Summit and the High-Level Economic Dialogue later this year complement the USMCA by offering us a chance to better coordinate our bilateral and regional economic policies to maximize our hemisphere’s competitiveness.
The U.S. and Mexico have the natural resources and the technical know-how to lead the world into the clean energy future our planet demands. Each wildfire in the western United States or rainless day in Mexico’s north reminds us that climate change is happening now.
Making the green-energy transition requires enlightened government leadership that unleashes privatesector innovation for the common good. Recognizing that, our presidents vowed after their bilateral meeting “to tackle methane emissions from oil and gas and other sectors, accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles, and deepen our efforts to seek naturebased solutions.”
Underpinning our mutual prosperity is the historic agreements our governments have reached to build a modern, safe, and efficient 21st-century border. Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the U.S. will invest $3.4 billion in construction and modernization projects at ports of entry on our land borders, and Mexico has pledged to invest $1.5 billion in the next two years on similar projects.
These investments will benefit our nations and our economies by facilitating trade, enhancing border security, facilitating the legal transit of people, promoting cultural exchange, and reducing pollution. The U.S. and Mexican private sectors are integral parts of this coordinated border strategy. Our dynamic bilateral relationship impacts every aspect of our citizens’ lives. I have seen what we can achieve together—and it is limitless. With the collaboration of public- and privatesector organizations, together we can foster the stable investment climate that is the foundation for prosperity in both countries.
This year we celebrate 200 years of formal diplomatic relations. The progress we have achieved in advancing prosperity for the people of both countries leaves me optimistic about the bright future of the relationship. And my optimism is heightened because we now have much more than just goodwill: we have a blueprint to define the way forward.
About Ambassador Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar was sworn in as United States Ambassador to Mexico on September 2, 2021.
In 2009, President Obama nominated Mr. Salazar to serve as Secretary of Interior where he had a lead role on the Obama-Biden agenda on energy and climate, the nation’s conservation agenda including America’s Great Outdoors, and Indian Country. Ambassador Salazar has been a lifelong fighter for civil rights and the inclusion of Latinos in the American dream.
In 1998, Amb. Salazar was elected Colorado Attorney General and became the first Latino ever elected to statewide office in Colorado. He was reelected as Attorney General in 2002. In 2004, Attorney General Salazar was elected to the United States Senate for Colorado becoming the first Latino Democrat to be elected to the United States Senate since 1972.
Amb. Salazar has been admitted to practice law in state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.
He and his family have farmed along the banks of the Rio Grande River in New Mexico and Colorado for more than four centuries.
