Washington - With the North American Leaders’ Summit scheduled to take place on Thursday, Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Pacific Corporation and Chair of the Business Roundtable Trade and International Committee; Juan Gallardo Thurlow, Chairman of the Board of CULTIBA and Head of the Business Council of Mexico International Committee; and Don Lindsay, President and CEO of Teck Resources Limited and Chair of the Business Council of Canada today issued the following statement:
“The trilateral leaders' meeting comes at a critical time for our continent as our countries continue to work together to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthen supply chains and ensure a competitive and prosperous North America. At their meeting, we urge the three leaders to focus on advancing a North American competitiveness, resilience, innovation and sustainability agenda and commit to full implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”
Last year, the United States, Canada and Mexico ratified the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that updated the North American economic partnership. USMCA sets the foundation for the competitiveness and prosperity of our economies. Sustaining broad political and stakeholder support by fully complying with the agreement’s commitments will best position all three countries to compete in a global economy.
All three organizations urge the leaders to work together on a comprehensive economic partnership and trilateral North American agenda to:
- Enhance North American competitiveness and innovation leadership.
- Harness USMCA to build diverse, flexible, and resilient regional supply chains; enhance energy independence and sustainability; support the digital economy; and facilitate trade to benefit businesses, farmers and workers across all three countries. This includes addressing current USMCA implementation challenges.
- Work collaboratively on addressing climate change and ensuring North American energy security.
Business leaders will continue their partnerships with all three governments to build a more competitive and innovative regional economy that benefits all citizens across North America.
Business Roundtable: Business Roundtable CEOs lead America’s largest companies, employing over 20 million workers. Their companies’ total value, over $20 trillion, accounts for half of the value of all publicly-traded companies in the United States. They spend and invest over $7 trillion a year, helping sustain and grow tens of thousands of communities and millions of small- and medium-sized businesses.
Business Council of Canada: Founded in 1976, the Business Council of Canada is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization representing business leaders in every region and sector of the country. The Council’s member companies employ 1.7 million Canadians, contribute the largest share of federal corporate taxes, and are responsible for most of Canada’s exports, corporate philanthropy, and private-sector investments in research and development. Through supply chain partnerships, service contracts and mentoring programs, Business Council members support many hundreds of thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs in communities of all sizes, in every part of Canada.
Business Council of Mexico: The Business Council of Mexico is a civil association founded in 1962 and is made up of 59 Mexican business leaders committed to promoting the social welfare and economic development of Mexico. For more than 50 years, the Council has maintained an open and continuous dialogue with representatives of the government, civil society, academia, and other business organizations, to work together for the benefit of Mexico. Its purpose is to promote the prosperity of Mexico to build a fair, free and inclusive country. CMN companies operate in more than 80 countries, employ more than 2 million people and invest more than 30 billion USD globally each year.