August 14, 2007
No. 111
The Honourable David Emerson, Minister of International Trade, today met with
Mexican Secretary of Economy Eduardo Sojo Garza-Aldape and United States Trade
Representative Susan Schwab at the 12th ministerial meeting of the NAFTA Free
Trade Commission (FTC) in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Our government has made the development of a more competitive North American
region the cornerstone of its Global Commerce Strategy,” said Minister Emerson. “We
want to continue building on NAFTA’s remarkable success and ensure that the
Agreement remains relevant to today’s economic reality.”
Since NAFTA went into effect in 1994, trade flows between Canada, the United States
and Mexico have increased tremendously. Trilateral merchandise trade has doubled,
reaching $958 billion in 2006. This growth has been driven to a significant extent by
increased investment. In 2006, U.S. and Mexican investment accounted for 61 percent
of foreign direct investment into Canada.
In their joint statement, the ministers agreed to continue building on this record of
success by looking at new and creative ways of further promoting trade and business
opportunities within the region, including:
• improving the movement of goods and reducing barriers to trade in four specific
sectors: swine, steel, consumer electronics and chemicals. A second set of
sectors will be identified for consideration by ministers at the 2008 FTC meeting
in the U.S.;
• developing a work plan that will provide a framework for the analysis of the
drivers of North American competitiveness. The plan will be tabled for review at
the next NAFTA FTC meeting; and
• further broadening the base of goods receiving NAFTA duty-free treatment.
These changes to NAFTA rules of origin-affecting over $100 billion in trilateral
trade-will be implemented in 2008 and relate to a broad range of food, consumer
and industrial products.
Today’s meeting took place as Prime Minister Stephen Harper prepares for his second
trilateral summit meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President
Felipe Calderón, scheduled for August 20 and 21, 2007, in Montebello, Quebec.
The full text of the joint statement is available at: http://www.international.gc.ca.
For more information about the NAFTA Free Trade Commission meeting:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/nafta-alena/celeb2-en.asp.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Jennifer Chiu
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and
the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
613-371-1557
Trade Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-996-2000
http://www.international.gc.ca
