By Jarrett Renshaw and Dave Graham
MEXICOCITY -The United States, Mexico and Canada will take steps to strengthen North America’s semiconductor industry, the White House said on Tuesday, as the countries try to resolve a dispute over Mexico’s energy policy that has angered investors.
In a statement before a meeting between North American leaders in Mexico City, the White House said the countries would in early 2023 organize a semiconductor forum to increase investment in the strategic hi-tech industry.
This, the statement said, would mean coordinating semiconductor supply chain mapping to identify needs and investment opportunities in making chips that are used in everything from telecoms, to carmaking and defense.
The three governments would also increase cooperation to root out drug smuggling and improve legal pathways for migrants, the White House said, as U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepared for talks.
The semiconductor industry has long been dominated by Asia, and disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc among North American supply chains.
Mexico’s hopes of benefiting from the push to boost semiconductor output have been undermined by the energy dispute, with Washington and Ottawa starting formal dispute settlement proceedings against Mexico’s policies in July.
The spat, which centers on Mexico’s efforts to give priority to its cash-strapped energy companies at the expense of private investors, is being closely watched at the summit.
Canada on Monday again raised the matter.
However, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard suggested it would not feature prominently in Tuesday’s talks, noting that a resolution process was underway and that the three leaders did not want to turn the summit into a dispute panel.
“I wouldn’t imagine it’s a major issue in today’s summit,” he told Mexican radio, while noting Trudeau was likely to raise the matter in separate talks with Lopez Obrador on Wednesday.
MIGRATION
The Biden administration has focused much of its attention with Mexico on containing illegal crossings at the southern U.S. border, and policy analysts argue Washington is often reluctant to let other issues complicate dealings on migration.
On Monday, Canadian International Trade Minister Mary Ng put across concerns about Mexico’s energy policies and their potential effects on Canadian investments in a meeting with Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro.
Ng said it was important to find a “mutually acceptable resolution” to the dispute, and also flagged concerns about the treatment of Canadian mining companies in Mexico.
The three leaders will issue public statements after their talks at the National Palace in Mexico City.
Biden and Trudeau met earlier on Tuesday, during which the U.S. leader said he would visit Canada in March, according to the White House. In public remarks as their meeting started, Biden said they would discuss the drive towards renewables.
“We should be the clean energy powerhouse in the world,” he told Trudeau.
Biden also stressed “strengthening our supply chains so that no one can arbitrarily hold us up.”
The two leaders committed to working with the U.N. Security Council on steps to support Haiti, which has been bedeviled by gang violence and political dysfunction.
The U.S. President met Lopez Obrador on Monday and discussed strengthening economic ties, fighting the drug trade, and approaches to curbing illegal migration, the White House said.
Under the North American Drug Dialogue (NADD), the three countries would adopt an “updated strategic framework” to address threats posed by banned narcotics, the White House said.
This would include greater information-sharing on chemicals used to make drugs including fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has been blamed for thousands of overdose deaths in the United States.
The White House said the three were also committed to curbing methane emissions from solid waste and wastewater by at least 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels.
They would also create a virtual platform to give migrants streamlined access and information on legal ways to enter Mexico, the United States, and Canada and make them less likely to rely on smugglers, it said.
