March 9, 2017

The Chamber collaborated with the Center in this all-day conference focused on NAFTA which included top officials and economists from the U.S. and Mexico who spoke on the winners and losers of NAFTA and a world without NAFTA.

Mexican Senator Armando Rios Piter was the luncheon keynote who spoke about his initiative called Operation Monarch as well as legislation he has authored to begin to relieve Mexico of its independence on U.S. imports.

Check out the recap here: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/nafta_under_siege

March 9, 2017

VP Paola Avila was invited to speak at the California Latino Legislative Caucus meeting in Sacramento to share with the 29 members, the collaborative efforts and mission of #OneBorder.

Since its creation in 2016, OneBorder has held four stakeholders meetings with the most recent taking place last week. The meeting was hosted by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a critical partner in gauging interest and support from high level officials such as Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake. The day long agenda consisted of information/data gathering as well as work on the expansion of participation from non-border communities who are cross-border commerce stakeholders.

Check out the OneBorder website here.

March 9, 2017

The Chamber kicked off its first cross-border business forum of the year with a focus on NAFTA and movement of goods across our border. A huge thank you to our forum sponsor BajaRail.

Once again, it was standing room only with the Federal Customs Administrator in Tijuana and U.S. Representative Scott Peters among the featured speakers.

This member exclusive forum has gained popularity since its inception last year with high-level speakers and dialogue on Chamber advocacy priorities.

Attached (here) is a summary of our dialogue and key points of interest from the meeting. Our next forum on May 23rd at the Club de Empresarios in Tijuana.

March 9, 2017

The Chamber held a press conference with Tijuana partner the Economic Development Council of Tijuana (CDT) to continue the promotion of the binational region and unity through a time of much uncertainty.

An invitation was made to the Baja California community to join our upcoming advocacy trip to Mexico City.

Project Manager Mayra Vazquez also presented the Chamber’s priorities and planned advocacy efforts for the trip to Mexico City at SANDAG’s Borders Committee and then again at the Committee on Binational Regional Opportunities (COBRO).

More News:

• “Why doesn’t Texas support Mexico as much as California does in face of Trump attacks?” – Dallas News

March 9, 2017

We are excited to have U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, host Chamber delegates at her residence in Mexico City for an exclusive reception with special invited guests including members of Congress and other federal government officials.

Among the confirmed meetings for the two and a half day trip are:

• Mexican Senate & Congress
• Undersecretaries of:
  • Secretariat of Foreign Affairs; Secretariat of the Interior; Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources
• Federal Customs Administrator
• Executive Director at ProMéxico
• Citibanamex Economist

Our featured speakers include:

• Enrique Espinosa Velasco, an economist who led a team of negotiators in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
• Juan Ernesto Pardinas Carpizo, Director of Mexican Institute of Competitiveness and former advisor for President Obama’s Council on Open Government
• Luis Herrera Lasso, former Consul General of Mexico in San Diego

As political relations between Mexico and the United States become more uncertain, it’s time that our business community steps up as champions of the Cali-Baja region. With a strong, unified voice, we can effectively advocate for policies that strengthen cross-border commerce and our global competitiveness.

Apply now to join the delegation and lend your voice to our cause.

March 9, 2017

A disastrous sewage spill originating from Mexico occurred in February contaminating south county beaches as well as the San Diego Bay. U.S. officials were not notified of the spill in a timely manner which caused further impacts and anger within the region.

An investigation has been launched to determine when the spill occurred, quantify how much sewage spilled, specify the characteristics of the sewage, and identify problems in procedures to notify the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission and the public.

The U.S. IBWC Citizens Forum for the San Diego-Tijuana area, of which Chamber VP Paola Avila is a member, met with affected community members and have issued a letter to the IBWC commissioners urging them to make sure the report of the investigation included specific, actionable recommendations that address both communication and management/infrastructure failures.

The Chamber is working closely with various government officials to address this issue including Imperial Beach Mayor Dedina and San Diego Councilmember Alvarez who will be joining us in Mexico City later this month and leading discussions with the federal environmental agency. We will share the report findings once released as well as updates on discussions with government leaders.

This incident further highlights the importance of binational collaboration and communication. We not only share an economy and a constituency, we share water and air which do not adhere to any borders or walls. The public health impacts of this incident are significant, but can be avoided or minimized by working together.

See also the following letter signed by Reps. Scott Peters and Juan Vargas on this issue.

March 9, 2017

The new immigration order signed by the President goes into effect this Thursday. The order limiting travel from six countries and suspending the refugee program, restricts and destabilizes the workforce. Our business community depends on legal pathways to access the much needed workforce.

To that end, VP Paola Avila joined U.S. Representative Susan Davis in a press conference to reaffirm support for the exchange of people for new ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Our country has a strong tradition of immigrant entrepreneurship. In fact, half of the Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the child of an immigrant.

In San Diego, immigrants comprise nearly one-third of our work force and immigrant households make up 22 percent of the total household income in San Diego County. That represents a substantial share of spending power.

March 9, 2017

The Chamber submitted a letter to the Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government in support of the Calexico POE funding.

Calexico is an important port within our Cali-Baja region. Improving Calexico POE not only helps alleviate our other impacted ports, but is also critical to improving our global competitiveness. Phase 2 funding was included in the president’s FY17 budget but has to receive congressional approval.

The Chamber also supported the funding for phase 1 which was successfully appropriated in 2015.