The White House has announced a series of commitments with Mexico and Canada ahead of the Three Amigos summit, and working together to strengthen semiconductor supplies, a market currently dominated by Asia, topped the list.
Tuesday’s announcement came hours before U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are meeting in Mexico City for the 10th North American Leaders Summit. It also included a new deal to tackle climate change, an updated strategy to tackle drug smuggling and modest new measures to stem the region’s deepening migrant crisis.
Hours before Tuesday’s summit, Biden met Trudeau one-on-one. On Monday, Biden and Lopez Obrador held talks on strengthening economic ties, fighting illicit drug trafficking and reducing migration, the White House said.
“This is a relationship that is a brotherly friendship between our two peoples,” Lopez Obrador said ahead of Monday’s meeting, striking a warm tone despite the left-wing leader’s generally cool stance toward Mexico’s northern neighbors since he took office in 2018 .
After Lopez hailed Obrador Biden as a “humanist president, a visionary president,” he urged him to “turn away from that abandonment, that contempt, and that forgetfulness of Latin America and the Caribbean.” He added that Biden is key to greater “economic, social inclusion” and a broader move away from a regional reliance on Asian manufacturing.
Biden, meanwhile, said the duo will look at “strengthening our supply chains” while emphasizing the need to combat fentanyl smuggling, which is causing an addiction crisis in the US and a surge in migrants and asylum-seekers crossing the US-Mexico border , fueled. Both are politically explosive issues in the USA.
In turn, the US leader also referenced the billions of dollars Washington spends on foreign aid around the world, saying that “unfortunately, our responsibilities do not end in the Western Hemisphere.”
In joint statements ahead of their bilateral meeting, Trudeau and Biden also said that during the meeting, North American leaders will also focus on efforts to stabilize crisis-hit Haiti.
“When we talk about issues, whether it’s Haiti, whether it’s some of the challenges in South America, whether we’re talking about critical minerals and energy, and how we’re going to move forward to create the efficient and resilient supply chains we need, there’s one Lots of things we can do together,” Trudeau said.
Promises on semiconductors, drug smuggling, migration
Early joint commitments announced by the White House on Tuesday included an agreement to hold a “first-ever trilateral semiconductor forum” aimed at boosting investment in the semiconductor supply chain.
Semiconductors are used in almost all forms of modern technology and computing. The strategically important industry has emerged as a top economic and security priority for all three countries due to supply chain bottlenecks that have fueled concerns over over-dependence on Asia in recent years.
The three countries also pledged to adopt an “updated strategic framework” to address threats from illicit drug trafficking, including “enhanced information sharing” on the chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
On migration, the trio announced only modest pledges aimed at building on previous development agreements and improving the availability of information for migrants and asylum-seekers.
The deals came after Lopez Obrador signaled Monday that he was ready to consider taking in more migrants and asylum-seekers from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela who are being deported by the US. It’s now taking 30,000 a month under an earlier deal with the Biden administration. US officials later said no increase had been agreed.
Human rights groups have criticized the US policy of deporting asylum seekers who try to cross the border without offering them an opportunity to seek protection, sending them to a foreign country instead. In turn, under Biden administration policy, 30,000 people a month from those four nations are eligible to work legally in the United States for two years, provided they have sponsorships, pass background checks, and take a flight to the country.
On climate change, the trio pledged to reduce methane emissions from solid waste and wastewater by at least 15 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels, the White House said.
The North American Leaders Summit is the second since Biden took office in 2021 and resumes gatherings that were suspended for four years under former President Donald Trump.
Following the 2021 meeting in Washington, DC, leaders welcomed their reinvigorated partnership.
Still, ties have continued to deteriorate in some areas, most notably over Mexico’s decision to transfer control of the country’s energy market to financially troubled state-owned energy companies, which Ottawa and Washington say undermines the trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Mexico and Canada have also raised concerns about the Biden administration’s policy of encouraging the use of domestic manufacturers for public infrastructure projects.
Biden is the first US President to travel to Mexico since ex-President Barack Obama made the trip in 2014.