The President of the United States, Joe Biden, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau and the Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) resume this November 18 in Washington, United States, the tradition of the North American summits. The leaders arrive at the first tripartite meeting in five years, amid deep differences on migration, climate change and trade.
The summit of “the three friends” is a reality again. The United States, Canada and Mexico resume their meetings after the turbulent years of the presidency of Republican Donald Trump. Despite the winds of change, new disagreements are added to the differences inherited from that time, which are still alive today.
The disputes over the proposed tax credits for electric vehicles and the “American buy” policies endorsed by US President Joe Biden have already raised the reproach of Canada, an issue that may dominate much of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that he hopes the meeting will focus on the equitable distribution of vaccines against Covid-19, to fight the pandemic, as well as financial aid to promote economic development in Central America.
Upon his arrival in Washington, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, was “optimistic” about the prospects for the meeting. “We will also touch on the issue of the development of southern Mexico and Central America in response to migratory phenomena,” he said.
And it is precisely the growing migratory flow on the southern border of the United States that has dominated the bilateral agenda in recent years. The thorny issue has brought to light both coordination and differences between the two governments, as López Obrador has expressed on different occasions.
On the eve of the meeting, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Mexico and the US to stop “abuses” against immigrants and asylum seekers.
“During the administration of Presidents Biden and López Obrador, the United States and Mexico have committed serious, systemic and persistent violations of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers,” said HRW director Kenneth Roth.
The three political leaders thus arrive at their first North American Leaders Summit, which used to be held every year. The last one was held in 2016, under the administration of Barack Obama, but they were suspended with the arrival of Trump to the White House in 2017.
“Buy American”, the policy facing Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The tripartite meeting aims to promote North American economic cooperation. However, both Canada and Mexico have expressed concern about Biden’s provisions to promote purchases of US products and about a proposed EV tax credit that would favor US-based manufacturers.
The social spending and climate bill being evaluated by the US Congress includes up to $ 12,500 in tax credits for electric vehicles made on US soil, including a loan of $ 4,500 for cars made by unions. The bill is a key pillar of Biden’s national agenda.
When President Biden hosts counterparts from Canada and Mexico at the White House on Thursday, he will face visitors who have accused his administration of promoting electric vehicles and union jobs at the expense of trading relationships with neighbors https://t.co/KgwNYtVISW
– Paul Vieira (@paulvieira) November 18, 2021
However, there is reluctance from its neighboring countries, especially Canada. That nation’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, called the incentive a clear violation of the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) agreement. In fact, this was the theme that dominated a meeting on Capitol Hill Wednesday between Trudeau, Freeland, other Canadian ministers and officials from the Biden Administration.
Freeland argued that, for Canada, “the first job here in the US this week is to really educate our American counterparts on how much their current approach to this issue is a problem for Canada and really explain to them that the way they have formulated this incentive really has the potential to become the dominant theme of our bilateral relationship ”.
Both Canada and Mexico want a level playing field as they compete to entice companies to establish plants for the electric vehicle supply chain in their countries. Meanwhile, the United States is looking for suppliers other than China of minerals used in batteries, which Canada could provide.
For his part, White House spokesman Chris Meagher defended that tax incentives for electric vehicles are an essential part of Joe Biden’s drive to link economic efforts and job creation in his country with the work of curbing emissions of polluting gases, in order to comply with the international commitments assumed to mitigate global warming.
Climate change, an issue for which the US and Canada reproach Mexico
The United States and Canada have expressed frustration that López Obrador has not joined global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The Mexican president was even absent from the great United Nations climate summit, COP26, which recently took place in Glasgow.
In recent months, Washington urged Mexico for an energy policy that is consistent with the fight against global warming.
Last May, the American Petroleum Institute stated that AMLO has promoted important amendments to two laws, the Electricity Industry Law and the Hydrocarbons Law, to change the market rules in favor of the state oil company Pemex and the Federal Commission for Electricity, and at a disadvantage for private companies.
In Washington’s opinion, these modifications will make electricity more expensive and polluting, since it highlights that Pemex has an excess supply of fuel oil that the Mexican government hopes to use.
This position contrasts with the Biden Administration, which through executive orders totally or partially repealed policies of the Trump Administration that hindered adaptation in favor of the fight against climate change.
Meanwhile, the López Obrador government requests that the economic development funds promised by the United States for the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America be consolidated.
The Mexican leader continues to pressure the United States to finance an expansion of its tree planting program to the Central American region.
Migration at the US-Mexico Border
The Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, affirmed that his country will try to advance during this meeting towards a solution for the migratory crisis. The AMLO Administration has worked with the Trump and Biden administrations to control migrant flows and help them return to Central America.
The two countries are still negotiating the court-ordered re-implementation of a Trump-era policy known as ‘Remain in Mexico’, which forced asylum seekers to wait for their US asylum process on Mexican soil.
López Obrador has also mentioned on multiple occasions his interest in the United States expanding its temporary work visa program so that more Mexicans and Central Americans can meet the demand for labor in the United States. Temporary workers in turn could have access to the best salary they seek in the United States without becoming part of the illegal immigration flow, considers AMLO.
Mexican authorities have also tightened their rules to prevent the passage of migrants from their country to their northern neighbor, which has left thousands of them stuck for months on Mexican soil and has sparked several protests throughout the country.
Despite the blockades, the migrant caravans do not stop when root problems in their countries of origin, such as insecurity and unemployment, increase.
Despite the coordination achieved between Washington and Mexico, AMLO made it clear to the United States that “containing migrants is not enough,” so the Mexican president, like the countries of the northern triangle, press for economic aid for their plantation programs. trees and youth employment, which could create 330,000 jobs in six months in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, but these demands have not yet been answered.
According to figures from the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar), the Mexican government has received 108,195 asylum requests between January and October 2021, the largest record of these requests in the country’s history.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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