Experts said the future of trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada is strong during a forum Tuesday at Arizona Western College in Yuma.
A panel of government trade and economic officials spoke about the impacts of the trade agreement between the three countries known as USMCA on Yuma County and San Luis Rio Colorado. The USMCA is the successor trade pact to the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
Between 2015 and 2017, Arizona exported an average of $10.5 billion annually to Mexico and Canada, according to state chamber officials. More than 228,000 Arizona jobs depend on trade with the two countries.
Guillermo Malpica Soto is the head of the Trade and NAFTA Office for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. He said the current realities of longer wait times at ports of entry and President Trump’s threat to close the border over migrant asylum seekers is worrisome for trade.
“The impact on trade flows is starting to hurt both sides of the border and we need to tackle that,” Malpica Soto said.
Also presenting Tuesday were Ana Guevara of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Gavin Nardocchio-Jones of the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles.
The mayors of Yuma, San Luis, San Luis Rio Colorado and Wellton were also in attendance.
