The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States met on Tuesday in Mexico City for a summit and said they had strengthened the regional partnership after two days of meetings.
During the North American Leaders Summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and US President Joe Biden agreed to strengthen economic ties, including manufacturing more products in the region and increasing the production of semiconductors.
Biden said at a news conference after an approximately two-hour meeting at Mexico’s National Palace that the three countries “are true partners.”
“We are stronger and better when we work together, the three of us, and together we have made enormous progress since our last summit, fighting COVID-19 and strengthening our ability to address public health threats to invest and build a 21st century workforce. , ”said Biden.
They also discussed combating climate change, migration, and the movement of drugs and people along the US-Mexico border.
Mexico will help the US fight the trade in the synthetic opioid fentanyl, said Lopez Obrador, which has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans. And he urged Biden to lobby the US Congress for immigration reform and help fix the situation for millions of undocumented Mexicans in the United States.
Migration was one of the most discussed topics at the summit, said the Mexican president.
The three leaders reaffirmed a commitment they adopted six months ago in the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, which includes expanding legal avenues for migration, a range of collaborative measures and better communication with each other and with their respective audiences.
“And the reason this summit, this trilateral relationship, is so impactful is because we share a common vision for the future based on common values,” Biden said.
Key outcomes from the summit are better communication between the three nations, a goal to make North America stronger on energy, and an understanding that they need to manage the growing number of migrants arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico while dealing with with issues still arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there have been complex and important conversations, experts are not surprised that there have been no major announcements.
Andrew Rudman, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, told VOA that trilateral summits “rarely produce major announcements or resolutions” because the issues the three leaders talked about were not only complex, but age-old.
“I think it’s not surprising that there weren’t any explosive announcements in your statement or at your press conference. But I think, having said that, the fact that they get together regularly and identify priorities for their governments to pursue in the coming year, I think that’s important,” he said.
During Monday’s one-on-one meeting, issues of migration, climate change, trade and manufacturing topped the US-Mexico talks, while the host, Lopez Obrador, vigorously called for greater continental integration.
Mexico hopes to benefit from coordination in the manufacture of semiconductors, which are used in hundreds of products.
“This is the time to decide to end this abandonment, this disdain,” he said. “And this forgetfulness of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is opposed to the policy of good neighborliness, the titans of freedom and freedom… starting with you, because there would be no other leader who could implement this undertaking.”
The three countries agreed to fight the flood of banned narcotics by sharing information about the chemicals used to produce them. They also agreed to reduce methane emissions by at least 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels and agreed to create a virtual platform to give migrants easier access to ways to legally enter Mexico, the US and Canada, according to Reuters.
Finally, Biden announced that he would visit Canada in March.
VOA immigration reporter Aline Barros in Washington contributed to this story. Some of the material for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
