The FINANCIAL -- In an effort to highlight the importance of economic engagement between the United States and Mexico, Myron Brilliant, senior vice president for International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will be leading a two-day trade delegation to Mexico City on January 10-11.

This trip comes just days after the administration released a framework to resolve the U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking dispute.

“There is no more critical time for the relationship between the United States and Mexico,” said Brilliant. “This exercise is about taking the next step in our economic partnership and the United States fulfilling its obligations under NAFTA.”

Among other goals, the delegation will press for a mutually agreeable solution to the debate over allowing safe, carefully inspected trucks to operate across the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We welcome the news that the administration is taking a first step toward resolving the long-running U.S.-Mexico trucking dispute,” Brilliant said. “The Chamber will work with the administration, Congress, and the Mexican government to implement a modern cross-border transportation system that provides certainty for trucking companies and shippers throughout North America.”

“Because Mexico is second only to Canada as a market for U.S. exports, millions of American jobs are at stake in the U.S.-Mexico partnership,” Brilliant said. He pointed to the Chamber’s recent study that found more than 6 million American jobs depend on trade with Mexico and 1.7 million of these jobs are tied to NAFTA.

The delegation will also continue the work that began last year when the U.S. Chamber launched the U.S.-Mexico Leadership Initiative, which provides the strategic energy behind Vision 2020, a five-point plan for enhancing the U.S.-Mexico economic partnership. The plan is intended to:

Make both countries more competitive in global markets;
Make our border a model for the 21st century;
Leverage the continent's energy resources while protecting the environment;
Raise living standards for our citizens; and
Do so all within a framework that respects national sovereignty and national interests.

“The Chamber is well aware of the important economic relationship between the United States and Mexico and we are building a program that will move the economic partnership between these two countries from a policy aspiration to a reality,” said Brilliant.

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