BY KELLY ARTHUR GARRETT
The News
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker told a gathering of Mexican business leaders Wednesday that the two countries’ commercial and economic relationship is “one of the most fruitful in the world” and outlined a number of steps to expand that relationship further, including improvements to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“My department will do everything possible to foster entrepreneurship and innovation between our countries,” she said at a breakfast hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico and Mexico’s National Entrepreneur Institute (INADEM).
Pritzker is leading a weeklong business development mission to Mexico that includes representatives from some 20 U.S. firms. The visitors are meeting with local agents, licensees and distributors, as well as with high-level national and local government officials, with the aim of promoting U.S. exports to Mexico.
The secretary cited NAFTA, now two decades old, as the key factor in the booming two-way trade between the neighboring countries. Nearly 20,000 U.S. firms now have operations in Mexico, she said, and it has become the 15th-largest source of foreign direct investment into the United States.
But the accord needs an update, she said, especially in the areas of labor rights and environmental protection, as well as unforeseen developments such as e-commerce and the digital economy.
According to Pritzker, the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) among 12 countries, including Mexico and the United States, can serve as a NAFTA upgrade.
“Securing this agreement is crucial to North America’s overall ability to increase exports, promote economic growth, and create good jobs for all of our citizens in the decades ahead,” she said.
The secretary cited more border infrastructure investment and compatible regulations as important goals for boosting binational economic development.
“Our border was built for just a quarter of our current volume (or trade),” she said. “It takes too long to move goods and people between the United States and Mexico.”
The secretary credited recent reforms promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto as holding out promise for a bright future. “Reforms in areas like telecommunications and energy could create new opportunities and bring substantial benefits to Mexico’s people and its economy,” she said.
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