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Key Quotes from the Speakers

Ambassador Geronimo Gutierrez

鈥淚 think there is at least a possibility of, in the case of Mexico, reviving an anti-American sentiment that I would say used to be there and that has been somewhat mitigated over the years. And quite frankly there is also the possibility of regenerating, of fostering, a very strong anti-Mexican sentiment in the United States. And I think that would be a huge mistake and that would be extremely detrimental to the overall bilateral relationship.鈥� 

"We can take advantage of our geographical proximity and our natural complementarities to create and maintain an economic relationship, a trade and investment relationship, that is fully open鈥攜es, fair, obviously, but open鈥攁nd that is in the benefit of both countries.鈥�

鈥淥ur security, the security of both countries, is better served to the extent that we are talking to each other, that we are sharing intelligence, and that we are cooperating.鈥�

Chris Wilson

鈥淲hen Mexico exports, it exports US content. Why? Because we鈥檙e feeding into production processes in Mexico. If we put a tax on imports coming in from Mexico, to a lesser extent but to a very important extent, we鈥檙e putting a tax on exporters in the US who are feeding production in Mexico.鈥�

鈥淒espite the fact that there are mutual benefits to this relationship, there鈥檚 rising trade skepticism. And at the root of that trade skepticism there is a real sense of economic insecurity.鈥�

鈥淭here are a huge number of stakeholders throughout the United States that are deeply invested in this economic partnership. Damaging that relationship means there are real costs.鈥�

鈥淲e in the United States need to refocus some of the discussion on workforce development.鈥�

Ambassador Carla Hills

鈥淚 cannot believe that in the interest of our country we would actually gravitate to pulling out of the NAFTA. Our interlinked supply chains would be devastated. We would lose probably 5 million jobs.鈥�

鈥淭he objective of trade is to make you more productive; it has done that in the United States.鈥�

Antonio Ortiz-Mena

鈥淣o matter how you slice it, you see that there鈥檚 a very high degree of interdependence.鈥�

鈥淲e need an agreement that will be able to deal with the future technologies.鈥�

鈥淥ne way to make the whole region more competitive is to focus on infrastructure, but from a regional perspective as opposed to a national perspective.鈥�

鈥淚 cannot underscore this enough: much more than NAFTA is at stake.鈥�

Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne

鈥淢exico is the one country in the world that touches the daily lives of more US citizens than anywhere else. And it鈥檚 so ironic that there is still such misunderstanding and that we fall into such differences of opinion about this.鈥�

鈥淚t comes down to money, in a sense, it comes down to the economy鈥�. And NAFTA gets the blame for things that aren鈥檛 the fault of NAFTA. It鈥檚 new technology, automation, and maybe trade with China that have impacted manufacturing jobs.鈥�

鈥淲e really need to take all the potential that is in this North American continent.鈥�

鈥淲e need a vision and a plan. It鈥檚 not just trade, it鈥檚 not just NAFTA, it鈥檚 doing a whole agenda of policy and programmatic ideas, and it鈥檚 hard work, and we鈥檙e not really into that hard work yet.鈥�

Ambassador James R. Jones

鈥淲ealth has been created that benefits a lot of people, at least half the people in Mexico and a number of people in the United States, and that wealth is worth defending. And the problem is in both countries that wealth was not evenly dispersed and distributed and therefore we have great resistance in both countries to continuing on this path.鈥�

鈥淒ecades of distrust by the Mexicans and decades of dismissiveness by the Americans was melting and we were developing a real relationship between our two countries and our two peoples [before Trump]. I think that鈥檚 one of the biggest disappointments that I鈥檝e found in the new administration coming in, and gratuitously creating rifts between our two countries, that makes it another hurdle that needs to be passed.鈥�

鈥淚 disagree that the wall will do anything to protect us鈥� history will look upon this as one of the great misuses of public money. What we really need is an immigration bill.鈥�

鈥淚 think the big idea is North American regional economy. But first we have to deal with the folks who drove this last election 鈥� white males and others who are employed, quite frankly, but are scared for the future.  And are scared of the future because they see their opportunities and their kids鈥� opportunities diminished because of social advances.鈥�

Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow

鈥淭he best approach to what we are confronting is to educate and illuminate the American public as to the totality of the relationship and how very important it is to us.鈥�

鈥淲hen confronted with trade disputes in the past and even presently, the Mexican government has been very competent in determining the pressure points in the United States.鈥�

About the Event

乐鱼 体育's Mexico Institute is pleased to invite you to our event "U.S.-Mexico Relations and the Trump Administration." Every electoral cycle in the United States or Mexico brings the opportunity to reevaluate the U.S.-Mexico relationship and explore how both nations can improve upon the bilateral agenda given changes in the regional and global context. Following the election of President Donald Trump, the greatest importance and challenge is for the two countries to come together and develop a bilateral agenda that is both constructive and meets, at least partially, both of their goals.

At this event, the Mexico Institute will also launch two new reports on the bilateral relationship. The first, Growing Together: Economic Ties Between the United States and Mexico, explores the bilateral economic relationship in detail to understand its nature and its impact on the United States. The second report, Charting a New Course: Policy Options for the Next Stage in U.S.-Mexico Relations, looks forward to a new course in bilateral relations, and provides key recommendations for issues such as security, energy, migration, the economic relationship, and North American cooperation. 

9:00-9:30 am: Challenges and Policy Opportunities for U.S.-Mexico Relations

Amb. Ger贸nimo Guti茅rrez, Mexican Ambassador to the United States; Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育

Duncan Wood, Director, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育 

9:30-10:15 am - The Importance of a Strategic U.S.-Mexico Partnership 

Moderator: Amy L. Glover, Director, Mexico Practice, McLarty Associates

Amb. Earl A. Wayne, Global Fellow & Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育; Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (2011-2015)

Amb. James R. Jones, Chairman & CEO, ManattJones Global Strategies,  LLC;  Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育; Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (1993-1997)

Amb. Jeffrey Davidow, Senior Counselor, Cohen Group; Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育; Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (1998-2003)

10:15-10:25 am - Coffee Break 

10:25-11:45 am - Charting A New Course: Policy Options for the Next Stage in U.S.-Mexico Relations

Moderator: Diana Negroponte, Public Policy Fellow, 乐鱼 体育 & Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute 

Security: Eric L. Olson, Senior Advisor for Security Policy, Mexico Institute & Associate Director, Latin American Program, 乐鱼 体育

Migration: Andrew Selee, Executive Vice President & Senior Advisor to the Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育 

Energy: Duncan Wood, Director, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育 

Foreign Policy: Amb. Earl A. Wayne, Global Fellow & Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育; Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (2011-2015) & Amb. Arturo Sarukhan, Advisory Board Member, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育; Careeer Ambassador & Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. 

11:45-12:45 pm - Growing Together: Economic Ties Between the United States and Mexico 

Christopher Wilson, Deputy Director, Mexico Institute, 乐鱼 体育

Amb. Carla Hills, Chair and CEO Hills & Company; Former U.S. Trade Representative

Antonio Ortiz-Mena, Senior Advisor, Albright Stonebridge Group 

12:45 pm - Event Concludes