Senior government officials from the United States and Mexico met today, September 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C. for the third meeting of the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED), which was relaunched in 2021. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Ambassador Ken Salazar chaired the HLED for the United States. Secretary of Foreign Relations Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Economy Raquel Buenrostro, and Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma chaired the HLED for Mexico.
U.S. President Joseph R. Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador relaunched the HLED in 2021 to advance our many shared strategic economic and commercial priorities. Through the HLED, the United States and Mexico have deepened our economic integration, cooperation, and enduring partnership. U.S.-Mexico total trade in goods and services surpassed $864 billion in 2022, an all-time high. Into 2023 (year-to-date through July), Mexico has become the United States’ largest partner for total trade in goods.
The HLED has continued its work over the past year under the four pillars of: 1. Building Back Together; 2. Promoting Sustainable Economic and Social Development in Southern Mexico and Central America; 3. Securing the Tools for Future Prosperity; and 4. Investing in Our People.
Under the HLED, the United States and Mexico are strengthening our region’s supply chains, supporting economic development in Central America and southern Mexico, coordinating to expand workforce development efforts. We collaborated by exchanging best practices to develop secure next generation telecommunications and information and communication technologies (ICT) networks. We are using the HLED framework to reduce inequality and poverty, boost job creation, catalyze investment in our people, and achieve greater regional prosperity.
The HLED’s broad and deep agenda helps advance our mutual economic goals. North America faced significant supply chain challenges during the pandemic, and the United States and Mexico responded with new policy initiatives and approaches to bring jobs and investment in essential sectors back to the region. We are implementing this vision through the HLED by supporting the reinforcement and expansion of supply chains in the semiconductor, ICT, medical device, and pharmaceuticals sectors. We have also boosted the efficiency and digitization of trade and travel procedures along our shared border.
Through the HLED the United States and Mexico are closely coordinating economic development assistance to address the root causes of irregular migration in northern Central America and to help catalyze economic development for rural communities in southern Mexico. Both governments are also collaborating with industry, universities, and other stakeholders to enhance workforce development. The United States and Mexico are leading efforts to create a more inclusive, highly skilled workforce equipped for success in the semiconductor, ICT, automotive, and other sectors.
In our meeting today, we reviewed our joint accomplishments, including those highlighted at the HLED Mid-Year Review in April 2023 [See High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) Mid-Year Review Fact Sheet]. Among these highlights were steps taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) to jointly promote the use of innovative environmental technologies, and the first U.S.-Mexico Climate Youth Justice Forum hosted by the EPA, SEMARNAT, and the North American Development Bank. In addition, both countries worked to enhance commercial cybersecurity collaboration and facilitate increased trade in medical devices and pharmaceuticals through regulatory standards cooperation, executed a joint public awareness campaign to support innovation by reducing or eliminating counterfeit (trademark infringing) goods and pirated (copyright infringing) content from supply chains, and hosted a two-day forum on 5G, ICT investment and trade, and next-generation ICT networks.
Finally, the United States and Mexico explored deepening collaboration in ongoing areas of work and considered new potential areas of joint activity. We discussed how to seize emerging opportunities through the HLED to promote manufacturing investment and generate employment and prosperity as the United States implements the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act – which together devote more than $400 billion to strengthening regional semiconductor supply chains, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and boosting demand for electric vehicles and clean energy technologies. We discussed how to continue medical device and pharmaceutical regulatory collaboration, and advance other work. We also considered ways to address the climate crisis and strengthen regional energy security.
The success of the HLED has depended upon active engagement by a broad range of stakeholders from the private sector, academia, and civil society. Vigorous stakeholder input remains essential to the development and refinement of the HLED agenda and is vital to keep the HLED aligned to reach our joint economic objectives.
As partners, the United States and Mexico embrace an HLED vision and workplan that make us stronger together. The United States and Mexico reaffirm our commitment to holding annual cabinet and sub-cabinet level HLED meetings to move North America toward a more vibrant, prosperous, resilient, and secure future.
