up next, catherine tiger and

other officials to discuss the one year anniversary of the u.s. mexico, canada trade agreement. that went into effect on july 1st, 2020. >> thank you everyone, my name is pat, i am president and chief executive officer of kansas city southern, one of north america's large real roads, and i am delighted to have been asked to kick off this remarkable roundtable discussion. my primary role here will be to introduce the ambassador greene, who will introduce the panel and others on the discussion for today. i would like to make some comments here, just about the unique opportunity here and the

discussion literally on the eve of one ear birthday anniversary of the signing of usmca. for those you don't know kansas city southern among others, we are one of the largest railroads in north america with a significant presence in mexico. our business has been very tightly connected to u.s., mexico trade since the implementation of nafta 25, 27 years ago. we are in the process of merging with a canadian national which is also one of the largest transportation railroad companies in north america. the combination of canadian national and kansas city southern will create a real network that is unmatched

across north america. it is our belief that the opportunity for trade growth across all three countries is just a fantastic opportunity for north america, all three countries in north america, to emerge and move forward as an even more powerful trading block in the world. much of the trade relies on infrastructure, and derail the infrastructure is a critical part of the backbone of treat across the continent the, and the combination of canadian national and the kansas city southern will create, as i said earlier, on an matched first ever truly north american rail network. we think it is going to be not only a participant, but a

driver of investment across north america, the improving supply chain, improved performance and resiliency of supply chains. the presence of usmca is a significant factor in creating this environment. trade certainty between the three countries in north america as well as other factors. supply chain leaders around the world are looking to de-risk, shrink global supply chains, improve predictability, resilience of supply chains, and we have a fantastic opportunity with usmca in place and forums like this where we have open discussion between the leaders of all three countries to focus on issues and align play -- priorities to take advantage of

this fantastic opportunity for north america. with that, i would like to introduce the ambassador mark green. many of you know ambassador green green had a very distinguished career, has been with the wilson center since the beginning of the year. after having several years at the mccain institute and top roles at the international republican institute, the initiative for global development and the u.s. global leadership coalition. he also served as u.s. ambassador to tanzania and served four terms in the u.s. house of representatives for wisconsin's eight district. so, ambassador green, i'm going to assume that you are being a wisconsin native, you are a green bay packer stand [laughs]

with all of these fine witnesses, i want to stand extent a personal invitation for you to come to kansas city on november 7th for the showdown, the rematch of super bowl one between the kansas city chiefs and the green bay packers. can cider this invitation extended. with that, i will turn the floor over to ambassador marc greene. >> thanks, pat. we aren't going to bring religion into this, which was what we do when we talk about my green bay packers. thanks for your kind introduction. seriously, thank you for your great support of nafta, usmca, and the work we do at the wilson center. welcome to everyone to the woodrow wilson center. our congressional mandate is directing us to bring together the world of learning and the world of public affairs. i can't think of a more important way to fulfill that mandate man to our discussions this week on the first

anniversary of the u.s. mexican canadian agreement. it is an honor to be here with the trade leaders of these three close partners, north american partners and friends. so thanks to covid-19, usmca's first year has been, to put it mildly, not one that will soon be forgotten. it is also proven both the result of our nations and our overall dedication in harnessing numb minor -- a more prosperous future for the entire continent. after a quarter century of success under the north american free trade agreement, the u.s., mexican, and canadian leaders worked tirelessly to modernize that agreement and to provide clear and coherent trade rules, set for sectors and disciplines not covered by nafta or the canada, u.s. free trade agreement that proceeded eight. no other free trade agreements had been updated in this fashion. but president trump joined his

counterpart in november of 2018 in at the signing ceremony. he boasted the usmca is the largest, most significant, modern, balanced trade agreement in history. in this case, he may have been right. all three governments should be commended for their vision, and their willingness to take on the risks of negotiation with no guarantee of success, the chance that things can be made worse. that takes courage, that takes principled leadership, and it takes close cooperation and communication among our friends, partners in north america. we all know that work is far from done. we must continue to educate the public. we must continue to strengthen our mutual trade interests and shore up our economic prospects. negotiators in this process, as we know, added new chapters on digital trade, small and medium enterprises, regulatory

coherence, and competitiveness to name a few. also fully incorporating labor and environmental chapters into the new agreement. our country also updated rules of origin to ensure that the auto industry, the driver of 25% of north american commerce, could compete in a future electronic vehicle focused global economy. if anything, the pandemic has a reinforced the deeply interconnected nature of our economies and societies. it has shown us the risk of over reliance on supply chains whose crucial links may run through far off lands. it is essential that we, government, private sector, civil society learned from the pandemic, that we implement plans and policies that will help mitigate the impact of future disruptions. that we recognize the value and potential for neera shoring

crucial sectors unimportant supply chains. we should also seize the opportunity of usmca's competitiveness committee, as we all know it's an important innovation of the agreement, and it provides an additional tool for the government to engage with the private sectors and civil society. earlier this week, we had the opportunity to hear from three briefness groups about at their vision for the community. the wilson center is eager to support the committee through our scholarship and convening power. are canada and mexico institutes have held over 15 events and published numerous papers about usmca and the opportunity for enhanced cooperation and commerce with the north america. many of the events and publications occurred under the umbrella of our usmca working group, which we established about one year ago and about which you will hear more later on. that in groupings together

policy makers and stakeholders to discuss rules of origin, workforce development, energy, border management, and travel and tourism among others. we will continue during the agreements second year to convene and discuss additional chapters, and sector discussions in areas like agriculture, financial services, small and medium enterprises, and digital economy. and doing so, we hope to provide that three governments with actionable recommendations to support rapid resolution of problems, and agile responses to opportunities. to again, enhanced the economy of not one of, us but all three of us and if that the entire hemisphere. enough for me. let's get on to today's important discussion. i am the lighted to have the honor to moderate a virtual firesides chat with north america's trade ministers to commemorate usmca's first

birthday. i will invite each of the ministers to make brief opening remarks. then will engage in a conversation about usmca's achievements challenges, and potential. first we will hear from ambassador catherine, the 19th u.s. trade representative, serving as the principal trade advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on u.s. trade policy. she previously served as the chief trade council and trade subcommittee staff director and the house ways and means committee, where she played a pivotal role in shaping u.s. trade law including the u.s., mexico canada agreement. ambassador, i'm turning it over to you for some comments. >> thank you so much, ambassador green for this kind words and the warm introduction and thank you to the wilson center bolstering today's events. it's wonderful to join my

friends secretary and the minister. i've enjoyed getting to know both of you in our early conversations, and it has been a dizzy month for the harrison ministration on the world stage and at the beginning of the month vice president harris visited guatemala and mexico and a few weeks ago i joined president vital where we highlighted the transatlantic proposition and tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the entry into force of the united states mexico canada agreement. this important milestone offers us an opportunity to reflect on the importance of our partnership and committed to advancing a positive economic agenda that lifts up workers and communities and all of our countries. i believe that the usmca provides us with the framework to advance this agenda. for years, there was broad consensus that the nafta needed to be updated and remedied to meet the needs of the 21st

century, and correct for floss and breakdowns in the agreement that developed overtime. that view was shared by the business community labor unions, and members of congress from both parties. the usmca has originally negotiated made important strives towards achieving the goals, updating and remedying -- but fell short of the standards required to win congressional support only with the close pet partnership with business and labor organizations, and after a most unlikely and topsy-turvy collaboration between congressional democrats and the trump administration, did the renegotiated usmca emerge as a better deal for workers. it also serves as a new model for trade agreements to be able to secure a broad based support. the usmca was approved by the u.s. congress with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, and was endorsed by groups ranging from the afl-cio to the u.s. chamber

of commerce. of course none of this would have been possible without the commitment of our mexican and canadian partners. the process and the final product demonstrated that thoughtful engagement and openness to creative solutions can lead to better policy. usmca now includes strongest labor and environmental standards and any agreement ever. and you labor specific enforcement mechanism and critical changes to intellectual property provisions designed to increase access to affordable medicine for regular people. usmca also allows us to revisit parts of the agreement to ensure that it remains relevant as the economy and our world evolves. we should celebrate the usmca because of what it represents, a renewed commitment by our three countries, to pursue negotiations that race

standards and create that race to the top. as president biden stated in the g7 meeting, we will always be more successful if we partner with our allies. collaboration with mexico and canada helps us confront today's challenges and prepare for the challenges we will face in the future. most importantly, the trust and the relationships that we built in renewing the terms of this agreement will help us to promote the competitiveness of north america, and respond to the policies that non market economies that undercut our businesses and workers. a good next step in this increased cooperation can be on the issue of forced labor. usmca includes a strong obligation to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor. working together to address this critical economic and moral issue with send a powerful message to the world. while today we are celebrating

what we have accomplished with this new agreement, we must also acknowledge that there is more work to do. by continuing our work together, we can build a more competitive and resilient partnership that delivers shared prosperity across this region that is home to all of us. thank you very much. >> thank you, ambassador. next we will hear from secretary tatiana, clouthier, mexico secretary of the economy. secretary clouthier has spent 12 years working on public policy and state and municipal level including as a congresswoman and mexico's or housing twice. secretary clouthier, over to you for some comments. >> when good morning. good evening and please very pleased to be with. you [interpreter] i want to take the wilson

center for allowing us to share. we are about to celebrate the first anniversary of the entering big the usmca. i want to thank the presence of the ambassador. our moderator, mr. patrick and the representatives kevin brady and mr. tai. thank you very much. we have worked a lot because some took office this year, but we were working together, reviewing all of the words and 11 committees that showed all the progress made, and usmca. for me this was very important and to listen about the challenges we have and we have

a lot of work to do. as nations, however, this treaty that has been modernized up to par compared to the world, we were able to face new challenges and during, threw it was a very important mechanism that strength and as you said before the commerce was strengthened in some way, and this partnership helped the three countries to face challenges in a different way. i want to make three comments. those are the three rs. one of them is the trade reactivation, the other one is economic recovery. the restructuring of value chain, for mexico, having the celebration of the first

anniversary, the commercial environment has allowed a more active dynamism, faster, despite the pandemic, i should say that. and allowed mexico to be positioned as the main commercial partner of the u.s. and the third commercial partner of canada. mexico has been consolidated, having to date 51 billion dollars in 2020 big with the u.s., and it maintains as an important provider of food to the u.s., with access to a healthy and more varied diet. our products dog were able to be sent to the u.s., through this treaty. also, the usmca has been a powerful engine of economic recovery in north america.

and despite the pandemic, we were able to face economic consequences, and mexico's position among the countries that received major and foreign investment flows, and this has to do with this usmca trading, and for us i think that we should highlight that usmca helped our investments with canada and the u.s. were strengthened. the confidence of this u.s. and see a mechanism, it was welcomed worldwide, but also by investors and our colleagues and workers in the country. the restructuring of supply chain thanks to usmca also were tested during the pandemic. part of what we have done up to

date is to share our counter parties, especially a steady by a company that indicates that the manufacturing imports that u.s. performs from mexico dog integrate a 30% u.s. content. and we have sent to the administration of president biden and canada, highlighting the strengthening of the value chains to overcome big, or as a region to overcome. as catherine said, if we work as allies to have a common front, we can thrive. we want to thank how this renewed usmca have taken mexico

dog to the core of the agenda hug of knee (inaudible) lopez obrador agenda. during his campaign, he mentioned the importance of strengthening the work and having more competitive salaries for workers with important labor conditions. and before the usmca implementation, he carried out a very important labor reform. i was a congresswoman when this reform was approved and in some way big we, for the usmca, we moved to another state with a very well drawn roadmap, and also to have liberty and the workers will have all the necessary information for the commitments in the labor agreements in this sense, usmca

is really important and -- in article 23 and an ex 23 a, that will allow to contribute through the efforts of an inclusive development thanks to the improvements of labor conditions and better salaries. we have worked hand in hand with the private sector and workers, women and men, that will be ready to carry out implementation, and to receive the benefits of the reform. also, we have carried out reforms to improve minimum wages and to improve the scheme of profit distribution and the free trade agreement has been really significant. thank you very much. >> thank you, madam secretary. that is very helpful and a lot for us to take from that. i would like to turn next to the honorable mary ng, --

she emigrated from hong kong to canada with her family. she knows well the importance of international relationships and economic opportunity. she knows well the struggle egg and eventual successive immigrants to a new country, and the important role that among economic growth place and that. madam minister, please, a few words from you. >> thank you so very much. good afternoon, everyone. i want to thank you for that good introduction, ambassador green. but before i begin, let me just acknowledge that i am joining you from the traditional territory including the mississauga's of the credit, and the different peoples and for those of us who are immigrants to canada it's

important to recognize the indigenous people who have always been here. and that the canadians have a role to play in reconciliation, and the work is especially important with the tragic confirmation of hundreds of children's whose lives were taken and it's important to recognize the terrible legacy of the role that we all play in our ongoing reconciliation of efforts moving forward. ambassador tai, secretary clouthier, katherine, touchy on a, it's wonderful to see you again after we had a terrific free trade commission meeting and it's really great to be sharing the virtual stage with you. i want to say hello to both ambassador greene and representative brady. hello, nice to see you. and on eve of the first anniversary of the canada u.s. and mexico agreement, or with in canada here like to call the

nafta i, want to thank you ambassador green and the entire team at the wilson center for bringing us together. in 1993, our countries made history by forging the largest trade agreement with a shared goal of mutually economic prosperity and raising the standards of living for all of our people. since then, trilateral trade has tripled creating jobs and economic growth across north america. fast forward to the summer of 2017 when our countries first came together to build off this foundation said in 1993, and to prepare the economy for the future with a new nafta. and today, we are here on the eve of this first anniversary since the agreement came into force, reflecting on lessons learned for that first year and highlighting our top and shared priorities for the american collaboration in the years ahead. it's last year has certainly been a difficult year. it has plunged our respective

nations into one of the biggest health and economic and social crisis in modern history. it has showed clearly how essential open trade and integrated supply chains are to support industries, workers, communities through the most difficult of circumstances. from working together on adopting trade mechanisms for critical supplies such as food, medicine or the raw materials that are used and making ppe, or life-saving that the leaders to the equitable flow of goods between our countries and indeed around the world during covid 19. our trade relationship is built on long established, deeply integrated supply chains, networks of workers and businesses that are not just selling to each other, but innovating and building together. and we are selling to the world. let me share a couple of examples of what i mean by this. let us start with bio defense indoor air production systems. it is a trans continental partnership between a houston-based company, a

canadian engineering company in cpr and mexico's [speaking spanish] -- these three manufacturing companies came together to create an innovative system for ventilators which traps and eliminates the covid-19 virus using high heat without affecting air temperature. another great example is the one highlighted earlier with the proposed landlord deal between kansas city, southern and sea and rail, a deal that has the potential to generate economic growth on both sides of our shared border with the united states. this is the power of the new nafta in action. de agreementthe reliability andy of our trade agreement is what's allowed businesses like these ones and their hardworking employees to innovate and adapt through challenging times. moving forward, our trade relationship will be crucial to supporting them as they recover, grow, create johns for our shared recovery, strengthening

our north american competitiveness. it is clear that the enhancements we made in the new nafta are already fostering and environment and opportunities to grow and traditional sectors such as manufacturing, agricultural and natural resources, and are also helping us become part market leaders in emerging sectors such as clean technology and sustainable infrastructure through trilateral collaboration. i'll give you another example. take our when shrill's w. espy. it's a world leading engineer consulting firm that helped deal with children's medical center in austin, texas, becoming the world's first hospitals to earn accreditation for sustainability. >> they reduced net energy used by 40% by creating a design that optimizes heat recovery, ventilation, lighting and the use of daylight. by modernizing north american rules of trade and simplifying trade processing, our businesses are better able to meet the most pressing challenges of our time, from the pandemic to climate change.

our renewed commitment to the automobile industry is an excellent example of this, working together on this agreement we're incentivizing production of zero emission vehicles and turning our countries into global leaders in the clean energy vehicle market. this is about strengthening our long term competitiveness, generating sustainable growth and creating good jobs across our countries. in closing, i would like to underscore something of vital importance, but working hard in each of our countries to implement the new nafta, we're sending a strong signal to our people, businesses communities and our investors, it is a message about a renewed commitment to the trilateral economic partnership one that protects workers support small businesses creates opportunities for under representative groups and contributes to more sustainable and inclusive future. i know as canada, the united states and mexico continue to

work together we will recover from covid-19, we will lead the word in a greener safer and more competitive economic recovery, thank you so much. >> thank you so much, each of you have highlighted some of the great innovations that are at the heart of usmca, but as we began this obviously came into force during a challenging time for all three economies given the pandemic, what's steps remain in implementation? what do you see as the timeline for completing those steps? and if i can begin with you ambassador ty, how do you see implementation in the necessary steps ahead? >> thank you so much, it really is a joy and delight to be reunited with secretary,

minister ying, into dimensions. we did spend a bit of time back in april for the free trade commission. and i want to note at the start of this session that we are very proud to be representing these three countries as women. i will note that we also take pride in the fact that we not only stuck to the agenda for those two days, but we also i think, finished early for most of our discussion sessions. we will take credit for that as women as well. ambassador green you ask a great question, it offers a unique opportunity to talk about how we are thinking about the u.s. ncaa, this particular trade agreement, but also the other agreement which is the implementation process is on going, working on this agreement is never going to be

finished, and i think that is a critical notion that we're really trying to focus on which is these agreements are about relationships and relationships are denied dynamic, just as our economy is dynamic. the way that we interact with each other, the mechanisms that we have for cooperation, for building together but for managing our frictions is an ongoing process. so from my perspective, yes, the pandemic has been a real curveball, but we are here for each other, that is the purpose of the u.s. ncaa and we will continue to implemented through its lifetime. >> minister yang, or secretary, would you have anything you would want to ask at add in terms of the path for implementation? if not, why don't i pick out

where we just left off, because as you said in many ways this is a process, not a single agreement and there is a path ahead not just an implementation but in looking for ways to advance trade. as important as this agreement is and as beneficial as it is, i think we all recognize that the politics of trade or difficult. there are often difficult for domestic constituencies. how do you advance the cause of trade in your own countries, and how do you help to convince mexicans, canadians and americans that free trade is something that should continue to be pursued? secretary quota if i could begin with you perhaps? >> yes of course i think that one of the most important things is how the

regionalization shows favor that not all of us do the same things. this is one of the most important things where we were able to show our openness, the pandemic has been a great example that we can see how the example of making a decision a or b. what we have done in mexico is to show with figures and then we go back to the field. what are the products that despite the pandemic, because we maintained people maintain in the field by respecting the protocols and complying with the labor efforts has been fundamental. and this is one of the producers and workers that when

they want to do that they can do it and they have demonstrated that they were capable of doing this in a respectful way with the agreements we have. so in this way for us, and we discussed this when the voices say that we want to protect ourselves or to close ourselves but we did the opposite. if we show figures as partners, despite the pandemic, the supply chain and their resilience shown through supply chains and not to close the borders and to have synergies to facilitate things -- we were supplementary as mary said, with products, while the pharmaceutical part, they were the spaces where they show the

need to demonstrate the strength as a region and having the usmca as a mechanism to face the pandemic. we have said this to investors that when we are capable of seeing the great opportunities instead of closing ourselves because we are afraid and we think to protect our own things, we see this in a different way. i want to show you an example. the usmca in chapter 23, instead of saying that we were striving to strengthen the labor reform, but with the ones that have made more progress for historical reasons like our

counterparts, and they were accompanying a by seeing us and this allowed us, so our workers and companies to say this is the right path that we should take instead of closing ourselves. also women and smes and to export in hard times, so what we had said that we have a big region where we can strengthen ourselves. don't be afraid, fear paralyzes us, and we have less oxygen and our head if we have fear. thank you very much. >> madam secretary, that phrase, fear paralyzes, i think this is an important one for all of us to keep in mind as we take on important challenges. mr. pierre yang is there anything you would like to add? pierre >> i would agree with

catherine and tatiana, i think that would underscores the opportunities for us is what we do domestically to support our businesses and workers as best as we can, but what we do here is we were collaboratively together to be as competitive as we can and all three of our countries, and i would agree very much that it is this evolving ability that this very good framework with the nafta that provides the conditions for us to keep building on making sure that disagreement really does in fact help us become the most competitive region in the world through this very opportunity and relationship that we have been working on together and no doubt, i think what we have done a set the course for us to work together even more in the decades to come. >> it is great, and again, we

all recognize that this is being implemented during a challenging time economically. would i did not want to let go by, ask is a quick question of all of you, what can we do to help? what can the private sector do to help each of you and all of you in implementation and moving this forward, so that we can realize the promise that is the usmca? ambassador? perhaps i can start with you. >> thank you, i liked your previous questions so much. i really want to call people's attention to the fact that the usmca is probably the most pro worker agreement out there, really something that the united states, mexico and canada should be proud of. and i think your point about the trade politics, a difficulty, but look at usmca

as a high standard agreement, just through the lens of 89% of house members voting for this agreement. it was 89 senators which out of 100 gives you 89% there as well. that is really, i think a transformation of some of our trade politics. it's the reason why think the usmca's really transformational, just as the nafta started a trajectory of trade agreements for generation. i think u.s. mc is the beginning of the trajectory for new trade agreements, to your specific question in terms of what the private sector and also what's civil society can do, participate, i think one of the lessons that i take certainly in the biden harris administration takes from the u.s. mcas and the renegotiation of the nafta is that an

inclusive process can use -- can lead to a more inclusive result. making it very inclusive that is really the path that i see for all of us. >> secretary clouthier? >> normally, people ask and i want to thank you when you say how we can help or what can we do. there are several skills by which we can help, one of the pandemic showed us and what's the new agreement, updated agreement is showing us, we have to move faster to accompanying the smes on all the companies who are led by

women that have been hit in all this process. this is achieved by supply chain and i always raise my hand that in these supply chains we need to see the rules of our region, the interpretation regarding how they have been implemented and understood, this supply chain, the rules of origin with original content will be made available to the three regions, and not made available to any one group. thank you very much. >> thank you, minister? >> to your question, how the private sector can help, i would agree with catherine. what's our trade agreements for? they are there to set the right conditions for businesses to do

business, but also to ensure that there is prosperity for all people in our economy that include workers, that includes small and medium sized businesses. they need to include women entrepreneurs, indigenous entrepreneurs, racialized entrepreneurs. that's what this framework is here for. here we have a modernized agreement that has into the agreement provisions for labor, for the environment, but also chapters that include small and medium sized businesses. trade agreements work when the benefit of trade, the economic job growth a crew to all people in our respective economy. i think this is absolutely very very important that we continue to do our work try laterally. but we also have in front of us, you know how we as a north america, the leaders tackle

issues like climate change. when you look at the rules of origin enhancements under this agreement, it's incentivizing domestic production, that's going to create good jobs for workers in other countries. it's gonna drive north american innovation and put high standards in manufacturing. what is so encouraging here, in canada we see general motors that actually converted the very first production, production of electric vehicles. here, a large-scale auto plant conversion in this country these are going to be the opportunities that are going to allow us to work together and the integration of the supply chain, i'm gonna end with a neat example, i use this to describe the kind of the u.s. mexico relationship, and i describe it in a hamburger. this is how it goes, you can tell me what kind of hamburger it is because people are gonna

say whether it is a canadian hamburger, a mexican hamburger or a american hamburger? you have breadth us big from a bakery in mexico, but it's canadian wheat letters from the letters both that is california because catherine told me about that, i learned through catherine. and tomatoes from mexico. you have a trilateral hamburger, this is how connected our economies are at the very basis. at the much more complex which of course this agreement gets into is really how all of us, including the private sector, and i would agree it is the engagement of the private sector and civil society, our workers, our unions -- we have to be able to make this work. it is about driving north america competitiveness, it's dealing with issues like forced labor, and the only way we will be able to do that is for the three countries to keep doing

what we are doing. the agreement has the support, and they are going to be bumps along the road but i will also share that this is not my quote either, but bumps are stepping stones to success. for that sets our relationship, and i'm very encouraged and very optimistic of this relationship between canada, mexico and the united states. i can think about better women to be working with catherine and tatiana. he's right, we did finish any of those sessions earlier, and i think we have to take credit as women leading this darn thing. >> minister, thank you. we can see that you have done well on politics anytime that you can bring a hamburger in the discussion, you know that you capture everybody in the audience. well done. thank you to ambassador thai, secretary clouthier, and minister and for joining us. thank you for your leadership,

getting us to this point but also, as you move forward please know that we do stand ready to work with you and support you in this very important process. it is not my pleasure, professional and personal to turn things over to our next speaker, without the hard work of ranking member kevin brady, it would not have been ratified, part of the 89th that you heard about moving us forward, i'm gonna invite congressman brady to make a few brief remarks, and then we will engage in the very brief discussion with him to talk about congresses role in implementation and what we see moving forward. congressman kevin brady has four presented texas since 1987, he's the ranking member in the house ways and means committee, and he chaired the committee. i had the honor of serving with him in congress and i can tell you that he is not only one of the most eloquent advocates for

trade, but he is one of those who knows how to build coalitions both sides of the aisle to advance the importance of trade, supply chains and making sure that we are taking up the important issues that we are today discussing. kevin, over to you for a few remarks. >> thank you ambassador green for the kind introduction. it's terrific to see. if you don't take up past [inaudible] i notice that they're coming to green bay this august as well. >> i'm gonna be busy this fall by the sound of it, by the end of this panel you certainly will. thank you for hosting the event tonight, it is an honor to be on stage with so many leaders. i'm a huge admire of ambassador thai, secretary clouthier and minister ng. there are smart negotiators, but it makes them really

special. it is great to be on any type of event with these leaders. what better occasion is there than we come together for the first anniversary before the bipartisan agreement that benefits all agreements and our trading partners, mexico, canada. as you said [inaudible] i want to talk a little about how we arrived with the usmca agreement for the future. because today as we all rebuild our condom use we are better position to succeed because of this agreement. i am a texan and got involved in trade because of a mentorship for george w. bush and secretary baker. in october 1992, he joined mexico's from mexico and canada and san antonio to sign the original nafta agreement.

there he said nafta is a turning point in the history of our three countries. it clearly was. and it has been extremely beneficial. united states [inaudible] it did mean updating and modernizing the need to care for, invest and upgrade make it work for the 21st century. we achieve that together, president trump signed the implementation act he says this is a cutting age state of the art agreement and serves the great people of our country, and he's right, this is a standard for 27 century -- it builds on the good provisions of nafta, and nearly all of the country to canada and it opens you markets, u.s.

and poultry lock reform, communications, in a big way. i think it strengthens our partnership, it's distortions caused by non-market economies like china. i think it includes ip protections for copyrights, trademarks and treat secrets, along with innovative provisions to ensure the enforcement of ip rights, both in the international borders and online. the agreement on labor practices in north, america i believe racist standards, labor standards around the world, and the fact that it is in forceable in the environmental chapter as well means a cleaner healthier plan. i really appreciate usmca personal businesses to bide self [inaudible] removes cost on low value shipments, again important for our small businesses, requires regular consultation among our

governments, and how we can resolve issues that affect our mainstream businesses. negotiating disagreement was difficult, and it was only the first step, implementing and enforcing it will continue as you said long into the future. so the agreement lives up to our high expectations. and so, i turn to the promise of tomorrow, will we always agree? no. that's why usmca has an effective dispute settlement settlement, to provide fair resolution. the state to state resolution by nafta was broke. this shouldn't be optional. they fix that, and now panel will be appointed, the process has been approved. most importantly, it applies to all aspects of the agreement. i know i intend to work closely

with the master tied to ensure that united states use this one appropriate. i think that just because the attitude that all three of our trade leaders in their respective countries bring to the table. i think the success of this trade partnerships for all party, depends on how effectively we protect our rights and work through these disputes. i know we have raised, from the u.s. approach the treatment of different companies, our partners, have issues to raise as well and while there are challenges i am optimistic that because of this agreement we can work through this, in a way that affirms rigorous enforcement, but in a way that moves all three countries

forward. master thai found these things useful. at the end of the day, the 21st century upgrades reduce frictions in trade. we are, i believe we are able to better work on our differences. and i think it will boost investments in trade with the north america exactly as we work to recover for mark hatem hughes, so perfect timing on implementation of this agreement. i know all of us want to help those who were hit hardest by the pandemic return our neighbors to prosperity and good health as quickly as we can, to do that, i think, the

usmca helps us provide more stronger resilient supply chains, more resources in north america, meaning we can bind produce more goods especially crucial medical products, medicine supplies, and ingredients to produce them. we are economy and i think our health depend on medical independence from china in these key areas, i think we all benefit from increased regional production of medical and pharmaceutical products. our supply chain can be anchored in north america, running through our trading partners, for canada mexico. i also think as was mentioned by our trade leaders, the passage of usmca, and i credit my counterpart, the chairman neill for terrific work in leadership here in the house, but he laid the foundation for

future bipartisan trade legislation. we are in some ways already building on this blueprint but i hope we do more. and i know our counterparts in canada are doing the same throughout the world. i will tell you i am confident in ambassador thai who is a skilled and strong negotiator, will work with lawmakers and congress to advance our leadership in trade. he knows what it takes, bipartisanship, intense consultation and transparency, and after the historic bipartisan support, mark, frankly, one i didn't think i would love to see in trade, and i am -- i was very encouraged by this. i just am convinced that we can work together to do more. this will help us exit the pandemic crisis, frankly, stronger than we entered.

we do know though there is aggressive global competition for egg, goods, services, and market. and when we compete on the level playing field, we win customers around the world. and together with this partnership, we can still win the these trade challenges that are not fair, whether from china or elsewhere. we have partners continues to address maximum care subsidies, dumping, ip theft, forced technology that come from transfers, and scientific barriers, a.g. products, protectionists, restrictions on daily, transfer is the key to future localization measures of all sorts. these are all the challenges globally. i'm convinced usmca shows us a better way with market principles with high standards, innovation and fair competition, and strong labor standards. i think usmca challenges the

world to embrace the future rather than a protectionist, isolationist past. so i'm convinced our modernized and deepened partnership will allow us to compete and win. i will continue to urge the biden administration to lead on trade in this world. and with the bold new trade agreements throughout the world that will set the standard and enhanced trade going forward. i will close with this. i believe the future is bright under usmca. one year is an important milestone to celebrate. i'm looking to so many more in ways that will advance prosperity and opportunity for our three countries. with that, ambassador, thank you again for having me here today. >> thank you, kevin. and wonderful optimistic note, and i think in some ways, you answer the question i was going

to ask, and that's whether or not the challenges presented by the pandemic and the exposure that it brought about in some of our critical supply chains, sort of made the case for the importance of near shoring and usmca. i'll let you address that. i know your time is short, but let me take one step further. what are the prospect of taking usmca and going a little bit south and not staying with north america but heading south from there? what do you think? >> yes, a couple of points. one, i think the opportunities for resilient reliable supply chains, except especially -- they are right there in front of us. and we would be fools not to take advantage of the partnerships we have through usmca and nafta, to create those resilient supply chains. it's a great opportunity. secondly, you may recall i was the point person for president

bush on the central american free trade agreement, as well as work with columbia and others. and i just believe there's great opportunities here. i worried a bit about the leftward turn from many of the countries that we dealt with trade relationships with. i would like closer ones with them. i think, to your point you are trying to make is, are there are opportunities here, in our hemisphere, that are due a reset or a reengagement? i think the answer to that is not yes, but heck yes. and i would look forward to working with our trade partners to do that. i think there is support for that in congress as well. >> kevin, thank you, thank you for your time, thanks for your leadership. you still have a lot of work ahead of you, we will miss you, but we will save that conversation for another time. i want to thank, you i want to

thank all of our distinguished panelists for their participation today. it's been an excellent conversation, an uplifting one. i'm sure we've all come away with a deeper understanding of the impact and importance of usmca, and again, i think with the possibilities are going forward. before we close, i would like to turn it over to ambassador tony to provide a brief overview of the progress made by our usmca working group, which he so ably chairs. and our plans for the coming year. tony, over to you. >> thanks very much, mark. thanks to everybody who participated today. as ambassador greene mentioned at the start, we have been very active over the past year. we held over 20 different events, public and private discussions of different aspects of usmca and related north american cooperation. we put out 20 papers also, which you can find on the website so that mexico and canada institute at the wilson

center. i encourage you to visit. them we intend to go forward over this next year, with the continued series of public and private meetings. and one of the things we try to do is a series of private discussions which are off the record and have participants from all three countries from the private sector and from the government, civil society. so people can frankly talk through some of the difficult issues and some of the important opportunities. and then we compliment that by having public discussions putting out public papers that are open to a much broader audience. but we look forward to all of you participating as we go forward, and please let us know if you're interested in participating. i might just mentioned three things that came out of all these meetings, these constants that cut across. all the discussions.

one is the importance of the certainty provided by the usmca, and the importance from stakeholders, they really want to see this agreement implemented and enforced going forward. of course, they would like to see the problem solved through dialogue, but if that's not possible, they want people to use the dispute settlement mechanism that exist and to see how they work. secondly, there was a constant theme that, as we are moving forward, is really important to have a dialogue between governments and stakeholders. certainly, that will happen between individual governments and their own stakeholders, in their own countries. but the people we talked with said there's a real enriching possibility you can do this in the trilateral context or, if it's a question of borders, northerners southern borders, there is a lot that can be gained by inviting stakeholders to participate. you build support for the process, and you get really

good ideas. and the third was a comment that for sure trade ministers are in charge of this, they are implementing usmca, but when we start trying to find wrists -- solutions to some of these broader problems, it really is only going to be done well if other agencies get involved. by all three governments. for example, looking at borders, the trade ministers are not in charge if borders, you need others involved, and that's true and all these areas. so there is really a stress on having a whole of government approach. and then particularly as the three countries start looking at the competitors, the issues. a lot of people were very excited about this part of usmca, looking forward and as the world changes, as technology changes, as several of our minister said, you have to change a little bit about how europe applying this

agreement and think about in different ways. and that's going to take other agencies. and it's even going to take direction from the heads of government and all three countries. so there was enthusiasm for getting back to an occasional north american leaders summit, also, to help set priorities. so there's a lot to be done going forward. we intend to be really active, we look forward to hearing from you as we do so, and to have you participate with us. so let us know your thoughts. thank you for being with us today, and we look forward to usmca really taking off in this second year, and a reminder we are going to start reviewing the progress in five years. that's one of the neat things that you usmca does. there is a review process built in. so we need to get busy and think about how things are working. thank you very much. and all the best. the house committee

investigating the january 6th attack held's first meeting tuesday. officers from the capitol police and for the metropolitan police department will tell us what they saw and experienced on that day. watch the hearing live tuesday, beginning at 9:30 am, on c-span. online at c-span.org. or listen with the free c-span radio app. . in this portion we hear from senators ted cruz and josh hawley. >> welcome bto