MCALLEN, Texas - The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement took effect July 1, 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement.
To celebrate, the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., hosted a webinar with esteemed representatives from the three countries: Luz María De La Mora from Mexico, Joseph Semsar from the United States, and Ailish Campbell from Canada.
The Wilson Center is home to the Mexico Institute and the Canada Institute.
De La Mora is a former Mexico Institute public policy scholar and now under-secretary for foreign trade in the Secretariat of Economy in Mexico.
Semsar is deputy under secretary for international trade, performing the non-executive functions and duties of the Under Secretary for International Trade in the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Campbell is chief trade commissioner of Canada and assistant deputy minister in the Global Affairs Department in Canada.
The webinar started with opening remarks from Jane Harman, a former U.S. Representative from Los Angeles, California, who is now president and CEO of the Wilson Center.
“We are all celebrating, virtually, the fact that this is a new phase in the relationship among our three countries,” Harman said.
“The new NAFTA is meant to strengthen the continental steel and aluminum production, encourage auto production, introduce stronger protection for workers, and introduce technology, can you imagine, as a form of trade, something that was not envisioned back in the day when NAFTA passed.
“But, as we all know, the devil is in the detail, and an 1,800-page agreement will be put to the test when it is implemented."
Harman ended her remarks by saying: “Sorry we don’t have champagne or whatever might suit, in my case a tequila, to celebrate this momentous occasion. Congratulations, everybody.”
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