US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Stefan M. Selig concluded Thursday a visit to Mexico City where he met with senior government officials and business leaders to promote the benefits the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) can bring to both nations’ economies. The TPP is a new, high-standard trade agreement that levels the playing field for American workers and American businesses, supporting more Made in America exports and higher-paying American jobs.
“TPP paves the way for the United States and Mexico to elevate their commercial partnership to new heights under this high-standard, 21st Century trade agreement,” Selig said. “We share a common vision and set of goals which TPP will help to accomplish by including strong and enforceable labor and environment provisions, first of its kind commitments for the modern digital economy, and robust protections for intellectual property and the free flow of ideas. The United States and Mexico have successfully pioneered an agreement that will open our regional partnership to more than 300 million new consumers while reflecting the values that have defined our commercial partnership for decades.”
The TPP is expected to strengthen the commercial relationship that currently accounts for nearly $600 billion in bilateral trade – which equals more than $1.6 billion in trade crossing the border every day.
During the visit, Selig met with Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo and Under Secretary Francisco de Rosenzweig from the Ministry of Economy to discuss TPP and advance the upcoming U.S. –Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) annual meeting. The HLED is the bilateral platform President Obama and President Peña-Nieto launched in 2013 specifically to advance our mutual economic priorities. Selig also highlighted trade facilitation efforts under the HLED, as well as other actions both governments could take to strengthen cross-border trade and investment during his meeting with Mexican Revenue Service Chief Aristóteles Núñez and General Administrator Oscar Molina Chie.
Selig additionally met with the Ministry of Energy’s Under Secretary Lourdes Melgar and Under Secretary César Hernández Ochoa to identify opportunities to support Mexico’s ongoing energy reforms, including through U.S. exports of goods and services in the hydrocarbon and electricity sectors.
The visit presented Selig a unique opportunity to meet with Mexican business leaders in a variety of industry sectors to promote the United States as an investment destination and discuss ways to strengthen collaboration between the two trading partners.