August 4, 2017
Seventeen Mayors from border cities along the U.S. – Mexico border gathered for the Border Mayors Association Binational Summit 2017 hosted in San Diego and Tijuana on July 26th and 27th. Jerry Sanders gave welcoming remarks as one of the three mayors who founded the organization when he served as the Mayor of San Diego. The group gave a unified message in support of free trade as NAFTA negotiations come forward. Mayor Kevin Faulconer commented “even though we’re in different states, we have similar views on the importance of our relationship with Mexico”, and next to Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum, they highlighted their cities’ interdependence as part of a cross-border region. Both Mayors joined the Chamber’s delegation to Mexico City earlier this year, and plan to join our upcoming trip to Washington D.C. in September.
Chamber VP Paola Avila participated as a speaker on the Modernization of NAFTA panel, highlighting the importance of binational areas to the cross-border economy and North America’s general economic competitiveness.
The Summit allowed the mayors to hear from experts on U.S.-Mexico relations, NAFTA, border infrastructure, urban development, and cross-border tourism. They later signed a joint resolution highlighting the positive impact of trade in job creation -14 million of U.S. jobs, and 43 U.S. states list Canada and Mexico as their first or second largest export market- and urging the President and Congress of the U.S. and of Mexico to modernize and optimize NAFTA ensuring that all businesses, regardless of size, have the opportunity to participate in trade.
To read the BMA resolution click here.
