Replacing imports from Asia means local development, highlights AMLO

Emir Olivares and Nestor Jimenez

Newspaper La Jornada
Friday, January 13, 2023, p. 5

The team of 12whose integration was agreed at the tenth Summit of North American Leaders (CLAN), will work for the substitution of imports from Asia and intends that 25 percent of the items from that continent be produced in our region, the foreign minister said yesterday. Marcelo Ebrard.

That is the assignment, it is an enormous job that we have ahead of us, but having the will and the instruction we have to carry it out. For Mexico, they would mean multimillion-dollar investments, the jobs are already estimated, the Secretary of Finance (Rogelio Ramírez de la O) presented the detail that this could even mean more than two additional growth points for Mexico.

During the morning of Thursday, the Secretary of Foreign Relations summarized the work of the CLAN, headed by the presidents of Mexico and the United States, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Joe Biden, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. He maintained that the meeting it was a huge success for Mexico and the region.

López Obrador considered that this 25 percent import substitution It means a lot of economic growth for the three countries, especially job creation. And why not produce here what we consume?

Ebrard pointed out among the results of the CLAN the new focus on migration. For the first time in history, the criteria for labor mobility between the three North American countries is being established. This did not exist, it had never been agreed to talk about it in terms of the entire region.

The components will be to strengthen the regular, orderly, safe, and predictable paths of labor mobility between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, he said.

He said that the head of the White House it was very clear regarding the attempts to regularize the immigration status of thousands of people in the United States, particularly Mexicans, who are disadvantaged because they do not have full rights. The chancellor was confident that those efforts by Biden could be successful soon.

In regional security, the CLAN agreed to work to control chemical precursors to produce synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl, while Mexico’s main concern in this sector is arms control. If there was any doubt, (in) the recent operation to arrest Mr. Ovidio (Guzmán) it was possible to see the weapons that are there and why it is important to control that.

There were also agreements at the summit on integration and economic growth, reconciliation with native peoples and the fight against racism, health and clean energy.

President López Obrador asserted: It was a very productive and fraternal meeting, within the framework of the good neighbor policy.

He highlighted the good relationship with Biden and Trudeau, and that there were no discrepancies on any of the issues discussed. He also said that the Canadian criticized the repression in Peru against those who have protested what they consider a coup.