Transcripts For CSPAN2 Sens. 20240705

After his ring and miami former President Donald Trump will be speaking in bedminster, new jersey, tonight to watch live coverage from the Trump National golf club at 8 15 p. M. Eastern on the cspan networks including cspan now are free mobile video app and online at cspan. Org. Senators Michael Kennedy and bill kennedy talked about the americas act propose legislation that aims to bring supply chains back to the United States. Lawmakers from costa rica, guatemala and panama also make remarks during the discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council. Good afternoon. Welcome. Did a special event on the public and private sector supply communication to reality. [inaudible] joining us in studio, Teresa Carlson, and other distinguished speakers. I also want to start by giving a warm welcome to those watching as both in studio today as well as watching on the cspan network as well as via a key tv on her multiple social media gems. Today we mark the official launch of a new focus on nearshoring here at the event a couple. In the coming months we will assemble a nonpartisan hemispheric group of practitioners to advance of this work with an initial focus on Central America and mexico. We think to make good friends of lead counsel for the support, telecom is app Founding Member f the working group and a longtime supporter of our past work on trade and supply chains. A bit of context. Why are wee to talk about nearshoring . Why is it important and why must we avoid delay . For one, Global Supply chains had been severely tested by a myriad of shocks in the past years between pandemic driven delays, high transportation costs and, of course, geopolitical tensions. As companies groww increasingly wary of the risks of our resilience on for fun supply chain sourcing, what americans graving of the potential to become a a major destination r supply chain relocation, thus minimizing the risks to u. S. Economic interests. As well the regions strategic location a close ties to the u. S. Present an opportunity for businesses to reduce expenditures of both time and money and the distance of streamlining production and expanding market potential. Its in the interest of the u. S. And the americas estimates and in american dolan bank show nearshoring could add an annual 78 billion in additional exports of goods and services in latin america and the caribbean. But while nearshore presents a major opportunity, translating it from frederick into really has proven more challenging than expected, and that must be addressed. So far Success Stories like the likes of the new tesla factory in mexico appear to be more of an exception than the norm. So whats part of the solution . We believe these three sets of conditions must be in place for nearshoring to materialize and sustained. Er first we need to think about International Push factors and domestic pull factors. Of the International Push aside factors such as a pandemic of russias invasion of ukraine, growing environment social and government requirements and u. S. Policy efforts can push supply chains toward latin america and the caribbean. But we also need to domestic factors. County children has domestic economic competitiveness include macroeconomic stability and regulatory Legal Certainty and better physical as well as Digital Infrastructure, Education Skills and his productivity innovation. In short we need the right mix of local and external conditions. Second, the public and private sectors most mustt be on boad as part of the discussion. Here, greater coronation between u. S. Government including congress and the business commits can ensure u. S. Policy action serves to provide the right catalyst for investments. And greater private sector can in turn boost productivity and prosperity. Nearshore needs make business sense for the private sector. Third we need a combined shortterm result with longterm vision. Nearshoring must have a minimal level of consensus and continuity across political cycles and, of course, be a nonpartisan issue is that evident thankfully today by the joint participation of senators cassidy and bennett in this discussion. Atlantic council were Bridge Builders and we are uniquely positioned to capitalize each set of factors and synergize them. Through this approach are forthcoming new joint working group aims to answer the following questions and look at this afternoon which sectors are right for productive relocation for the americas catoctin countries to get finished of opportunities what are key factors that make companies rethink their dependence on traditional overseas locations like china and pulled them towards the americas . Also what policy changes the regional governments and the use implement to capitalize and senators push and pull factors . With all that im absolutely auditor senator bill cassidy and senator Michael Bennet join us virtually for their first conversation as cosponsors of the bipartisan americas act which calls for among other things to create an overarching foreign and Economic Policy toward countries in the western hemisphere. Senators cassidy and bennet are here for greater conversation on this bill and importance of this bill. Notably this bill includes provisions in encouraging businesses to be short or nearshore from china to the u. S. And other western hemispheric countries and urge governments to work with are used to contain the advancement of china in hemisphere. Nt senator cassidy is a senior u. S. Senator from louisiana. Is a member of the Republican Party answer this senator from 2015, to the capital originally as a member of the house after his 2008 election. Hes a hes a doctor by training including and served come multiple committeeen assignments on the finance committee, the Ranking Member of the health, education, labor and pensions committee, serving on the environment and Natural Resources committee and also thc Veterans Affairs committee. Senator bennet is a senior u. S. Senator from colorado. He has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party previous six principles work inc the private sector and also serving as superintendent of Denver Public schools. A member of the finance committee as well where he chairs the subcommittee on taxation irs oversight also on the select committee on intelligence and agriculture, nutrition and forestry committee. With that, absolutely delighted to have you here with us this afternoon. Let me begin with you, starting with the biggern. Picture questn senator cassidy i will will start withth you. Whats your vision guided the americas act . Whats the highlevel policy outcomes you hopee to achieve through this legislation . Ill start off with a high level and go to little bit lower but still life. Fantastic i think its been since john f. Kennedy that the United States has had a coherent policy towards the western hemisphere. We really suffered by that and we i mean the entire western hemisphere. And parties change in terms of the white house and so somebody start something at the next four years the changes to Something Else in the next four years of changes to Something Else, but more often it has been neglect. Now we have western hemisphere which is of lots of problems, Economic Growth stalled, government thing somewhat unstable and in the United Statess we see literally millis of people attempting to cross our southern border without, irregular migration, illegal migration, whatever you want to talk aboutio it. So lets bring it down a little bit. If we think of michael and i and as if weve come up with his coherent policy that would encourage private investment in the western hemisphere, we shoring, nearshoring industries that currently in asia and as a benefit your privacy spoke about it also has the added the damage of creating prosperity, therefore ideally making government more stable, making economy more resilient, making it less likely that someone leaves the land in which they have spent generations in an attempt to go on a very dangerous journey in which many people die to come to the United States for an uncertain future. In the meantime, as the United States exports and we reimport, theres a virtual cycle of capitalism where everybodys economy improves, not just the other country but every country on either side of it, not just the United States but also, fill in the blink. And not just fill in the blank but also the United States. As we create that possibility which again is being driven by the private sector being driven by reshoring, we think theres barely a myriad of benefits. I can bring it on another level but i will stop and turn it over to michael. Thank you. Your vision for this legislation . Thank you. What a thank you and Atlantic Council and the other partners for having bill and me here today. I want to think everybody for tuning in. This is an incredibly important topic as we look to the future and it is i feel extremely gratefulda to share the stage wh my colleague senator bill cassidy who shown such leadership here. Across the western hemisphere we share deep bridge ties in an enormous opportunity for partnership, but as bill said, he said maybe its kennedy but certainly for decades, washington has failed to greet any comprehensive policy or offer a compelling alternative to Chinese Investment in the region. While we have been busy elsewhere, china has rushed to fill the void with a surge of trade, investment, and technology. We have already seen these relationships pose a longterm threat to local industries, minerals, and vibrant rule of law throughout the western hemisphere. I think the americas act offers an opportunity for the United States to renew our partnerships across latin america and thetu caribbean and embrace our values together in a shared struggle democracy and for prosperity. Prosperity. Our legislation would create a pathway to bring jobs and industries that weve exported across back to her hemisphere, endeavor i think we should prioritize especially following the supply chain disruptions that weze saw during the covid pandemic. The americas act would help see through our longterm goal to integrate trade and Economic Development through improved financing mechanisms, Development Finance corporation, expanding usmca. Help elevate critical labor environmental standards. I think that you use an example as an exception to i hope for example, coaster because longterm partnership with intel is a good example of how we can create jobs to secure our supply chains in hemisphere. We should should build on the progress and look for examples of other progress in which we can build it between latin americas abundance Critical Minerals and are abundant oil and natural gas, our hemisphee something needs to achieve energy independence. We are in in a position to sn example to the world of a a me integrated, secure and Resilient Energy infrastructure, and to lead. Nobody better situated that we are in hemisphere on those grounds. Finally fromom labor shortages d a family farms and ranches to american nursing homes, our parents and grandparents arere living in, our economy depends on a hardworking labor force from across the americas. But the United States immigration system is outdated. It doesnt meet these needs, so we need reform the system to honor our heritage nation of immigrants come secure the benefits ofbe our economy with a working immigration system that honors and gives the American People confidence that our border is secure. But creating an everexpanding and permanent trade partnership western countries we can finally take a comprehensive approach to develop longlasting trade, climate and immigration policy. I think as well get into an amended a truly important to me and you knowpo it is to bill tht this is a bipartisan effort. That may pick up on that, senator bennet, as both you and senator cassidy said, here at Atlantic Council we are focused on the importance of partnership and longterm policy. Senatory. Cassidy, ive also hed about many much enthusiasm for my conversations with various government officials around the region about this legislation, but walk us through the bipartisan nature of this legislation and why nearshoring this legislation and also Deeper Partnership with latin america and the caribbean, why this has to be bipartisan in nature insofar as how we are conducting our Foreign Policy efforts like this toward the region . On the most current basic level in less than the 60 votes they cannot pass the senate and since Neither Party is typically more than 54, high watermark, its obviously going to be bipartisan. Thats just kind of doingng mat. Lets talk about it conceptually. The two partiesin obviously represent different thinking, different ways of thinking in the unitedhi states. Michael ring something to this, a sensibility of the people whom he represents which is a little bit nuanced relative to my sensibility. Frankly, my staff and i were just popping the course because we know if only we have a chance if, if somebody thoughtful from the other party whos whoo do it with us. And what he will bring to the table as what i will bring to the table, how do we appeal to ourr constituencies that are unique from each of its constituencies . If were goinge to have a political solution which transcends administrations, it means has to be legislated but two thats got to reflect those difference. Thats the most practical way about it. Believe me, theat likelihood in which he talks simultaneously a fossil fuel and clean energy. Im going to simultaneously talk about, and we speak of the trade that our states would already have with latin america or with canada because western hemisphere, not just latin america, i think our states are also kind of a duality of perspective, fossil fuel and clean energy, making sure that our workers in our country do wellng but recognize its not a zerosum. Its something is reassured from asia to mexico, theres more trade between the nice seats in mexico in terms of reciprocal trade than is between the United States and china. We have more of those dollars back into our economy as opposed to china which may use those dollars for belt and road initiatives or string of pearl or other things that never come back to benefit the United States. So i could keep on going, but michaels input is invaluable and will only be successful if it is bipartisan. Thank you, senator. Your point is well an excellent unimportance of legislation from congress, to get a longterm commitment, reliability and regional partners are yearning for. Senator bennet, he free to reacl to his comments but as well after this im going to have a panel with a few ministers from Central America from theiror perspectives on the importance of nearshoring. I would like for your comments as well of the importance on a nearshoring could be beneficial from a regional perspective in your viewpoint. Thanks for that and let me first react what bill said because i think it was such an emphatic and useful description of the nature of pluralism. In a democracy we are not supposed to agree with each other all the time. Thats not the point. Because or it isnt a king oa tyrant to tell us what you think. The idea is we are going to come together not in some shabby compromise necessary in the middle but we take our different perspectives, our different ventures, are different geographies that bill laid out so well, and that of those we create a result thats more imaginative than any king or tyrant then come up with her own. And i was a durable because were going to pass a piece of legislation so we can make sure it indoors from generation to generation. I think thats really important that this is a set of values or on parole is him thats critically important, not just the United States but to other countries in this region and went to figure out how to lift that up. And to do think that that topic, the topic of bipartisanship, of nearshoring and partnership that you raised, jason, are all different parts of the same puzzle. I would say to the panelists representing guatemala, panama, costa rica after the session that by virtue of our intertwined cultures and history and proximity, we are often affected by the same forces. And what the americas act allows us to do is take different elements, trade and investment, people to people, exchanges, create a comprehensive and resurgent mechanism of integration and cohesion that will enable our hemisphere to thrive together, which is the only way we can actually thrive. I think the importance of nearshoring cant be overstated. We are living at a time when the first time really since the 1980s the United States has finally passed a bill to bring back an interest, the Semiconductor Industry, back to the u. S. There still a ton of work to do, even for theo semiconductor supply chain. But through collaboration with our western allies we can bring back more industries to the u. S. U. S. I think can create even more jobs and Economic Opportunities for the entire hemisphere as bill was also saying. As i mentioned earlier i think the chinese government, aging, has taken full advantage of the lack of attention that the United States paved in the western hemisphere, and it shows. Since 2000 trade trade between beijing and latin america has grown almost 12 million to 445 billion, nearly 40 times. Beijing is now the top trading partner for all of south america and second only to the u. S. For all latin america. And you know this is a bipartisan concern. The question is what are we going to do about it . Create new jobs, increasing people to people exchanges, growing International Trade and opportunity and countering beijings growing influence over Global Manufacturing and geopolitics by uniting democracies in our hemisphere. These areni all bipartisan foren policy goals. They are going to stand the test of time. I want to highlight one other critical pillar of the americas act and then i will stop, and thats the people to people partnerships. More than 60 million americans from People Living in the United States, are of hispanic descent. The United States is is the h largest spanishspeaking country in the world. The americas actla recognizes or nations diverse nature andnd creates additional these opportunities and cultural and Educational Programming to further strengthen and support the networks and programs that unite this him a server so im extremely glad to continue this work with senator cassidy and partners across regions we dont go another 50 years and look back on what could have been, what right now im extremely helpful looking toward the future with the americas act the vast opportunity that we have together to build a prosperous state and free hemisphere. Thats important tobu us but its really important to our kids and our grandkids. They do so much, senators. We have two minutes left and want to ask your last question for whats next . Lots of excitement about the americas act, dressing a lot of longstandings concerns and untapped opportunities y across the hemisphere. What it would be the next steps from your perspective . If i may, michael and i are both speaking to our, is bigger republicans can be speaking to democrats but were speaking to others. To try linux support. Were speaking to the administration. Were speaking to some of the panelistss who have other represents of the country. This is not the United States think hey, listen were going a o do this for you. This is both sides thing is that we can Work Together. We think thats how its more likely, a fact that the only way its going to be effective. So now it is process about socialization and attracting support. I we would like to dovetail with that which the administration has already laid out frankly i think were a little more detail but we are operating within the same paradigm where its a partnership and in that partnership both sides Work Together. Not just rhetorically but in reality. Michael mentioned the people to people were talking about the nearshoring and reassuring, government system in which you mention how theres a concern about accounting which may wish to invest without the bentley get having to pay consideration for some lowlevel bureaucrat sort ofio thing. That scares them away. They get certain ethic codes. Were going to propose it would have to be adopted any government system in which just like to do in some countries around the world you go online for your permits, go online to see if he or she has found the necessary paperwork and it removes the kind of level of bureaucracy. It lowers the cost, and makest more likely a company will enter into the normal economy as opposed to being in the informal. Once in a formal economy theyre more likely to p pay taxes which increases the amount of money the government has to pay for both social capital and physical infrastructure which that attracts more foreign direct investment. Its act Virtuous Cycle that hes both investor and the country and more specifically the people of the country. So thats another one of our builders and we think that sets the stage for the reassuring and nearshoring because now oh, my gosh i can put up their network about my permits. I see investment in a physical infrastructure and in the social capital because they know of an expanded tax base and have it because more companies can i complete the circle is because we now have a unique of it since of which investors are able to pursue it as well. So one of our goals which we think in which enable the nearshoring weve been discussing. Thank you so much. Would you like to anything before we close here . I i would only add that i thk in many ways the wind is at our back here. Theres a real desire among the American People for us to address the issues that bill and i been talking about today. Think theres an understanding that the economic integration of the hemisphere is something that could be powerful job creator for not just the United States but for everybody that the issues that are related to the migration issues that bill talked about are going to be difficult to address without the broader context being addressed that our National Security are also of concern. I think there are a lot of reasons to think that we can build momentum here and so what we have to now do is hard work of legislating by adding colleagues from the republican Democratic Party onto the spill and were going to continue to do that, make sure the administration here comes to see this as a positive step forward for us and i think the work that the Atlantic Council and others can do to push the effort that bill cassie and and i are involved in here, we would deeply appreciate because i think its a piece of legislation that is been given a lot of consideration and if we can get it passed i think theres no into the distance that were all w going to be abe to travel together, so thank you for having us. On that thank you so much senator bennet senator cassidy hit Atlantic Council for ied midget at the outset this commitment from turning nearshoring from rhetoric into reality a new drive of our work at the latin american citizens thank you so much for coming on and joining us in the forward to the followup. Thanks, everybody. Thank you. Now come up, conversation with ministers and Central America on advancing publicprivate opportunities for nearshoring and then well take the rest of the outer look at Nuclear Progress in trends and zoom out and looking at nearshoring on an evolving global context. Now for the next conversation from nearshoring to reality come advancing publicprivate collaboration of like to welcoml our five speakers come one of whom is joining in studio here in washington, Teresa Carlson of speakers from guatemala, panama, costa rica and miami. Im going to welcome all of our speakers and go ahead and introduce them. First guatemala minister of our economy Janio Rosales is joining us, hes been in his current role for almost one and half years and has more than 20 years of experience in different productive areas a Multinational Companies. So welcome. Were also joined by a panel of those minister of trade and industry, Federico Alfaro boyd who just celebrated i think about a week ago your one year in your composition, and was paid as a president of the board of directors of the International Court and also deputy minister of foreign affairs. Were also joined on screen by coaster because vice minister of Foreign Trade who also serves as a present of the National Council for trade facilitation and brings over 20 years of expense in trade investments in Market Access. While also joined on screen here by chief external Affairs Officer karim lesina who represents when the most important foreign invested in Central America, miller kahns work is critical to the regions economic competitiveness, implement a livelihood and a champion in working with the Atlantic Council on advancing the conditions for nearshore. And then im also pleased to be joined here in studio by chief commercial officer and also laverne councilan board member Teresa Carlson. She represents a Global Leader in supply Chain Technology come spearheading t the country, the companies expansion new Global Markets verticals and strategic partnerships. So over the next 30 minutes we will lookes at Central Americas nearshore opportunities, supply Chain Logistics and how to attract investment, all with a publicprivate lens. Im going to go ahead and start with the ministers on screen first. Minister, lately been many discussions about nearshore and toward the region and we are focused on manufacturing in mexico or maybe the importance of Critical Minerals in south america but how would you make the case for central cea especially those currently overlooking Central America as a nearshoring destination and also in your answer feel free to respond to some of the points made by both senators in the previous conversation. Thanks to Atlantic Council and to you, jason. This is i think Central America offers significant advantages as an nearshore industry nation that are often overlooked and by highlighting disadvantages and regional integration and cooperation we think business case, the region in the nearshoring potential that we think would pay. So here are some points to consider when making the case for Central America and specifically for guatemala. First of all guatemala has a largest market in Central America. We are around 94 billion export in the last three years. Around 40. 2 billion imports, around 26 billion. Central america is also position for investing in this nation are for instance, like you said we are close to the market of the u. S. And mexico and now specifically mexico is also facing security challenge. Were also having new opportunity for investors who want to come to our country. Also guatemalan one of the few proinvestment and probusiness governments left in the region so we think our strategy for guatemala is attractive. Recently not only our good friend from milcon invest in a lot of billions in guatemala but also where we can come fr, from taiwan, japan, from the u. S. We think where the natural ally of the United States and also for the u. S. Government. As those senators were saying we think we should focus on not only regarding economics but also people to people. At the end of the day [inaudible] and we are so i think we should focus on different alliances that we are part of been going through. We have some dialogue so i think we of course mechanism sooner or later were going to have the outcomes and make america safe. Thank you so much, minister rosales and it should also mention ambassador is for joining us live in studio. Maybe i shouldve mentioned that before you gave your answer. Thank you so much for that. Want s to go to Federico Alfaro boyd for semiconductors. Semiconductor been the nearshoring and rejoin discussions here in washington and both animal and costa rica are engaged in the space per costa rica of course mentioned previously the wonkish of working with intel, also minister alfaro your ambassador in washington recently wrote about the opportunity panama offers for chip chipmakers. How was your minister Ministry Working with its his u. S. Counterpart and also the industry writ large to advance hemispheric chip agenda . Feel free to make any comments with regard to what the senators mentioned in the previous conversation as well. Thank you jason for the invitation. And i will also extend my hello to the current minister of guatemala, the vice mayors of costa rica. I think i will start first by addressing the previous panel, senator cassidy and senator bennet. I think its a port they have stayed a first theyre doing bipartisan legislative agenda which i think its very important but its also very comforting for a country such as panama, such as costa rica, guatemala to know they have a partner both executive and in the legislative branch. And we know the importance that bipartisan, bipartisanship represents for these initiatives. So i think it will be important for us to continue our dialogue with our legislative branch, with senator cassidy which we wt very longstanding relationship with, because we strongly believe these alliances in the region especially for democratic countries, stable,y economic countries such as panama, guatemala, costa rica, such as the dominican republic, obviously all that is i think enhances but also represents a winwin for panama, for costa rica, for guatemala but also the interest of the United States. Coming back to your second question, the disruption of global c supply chain is a uniqe opportunity for democratic countries in the region. We believe animal can position itself as a key player in industries that can catalyze Economic Growth and prosperity are costa rica and panama are two countries that stand to win from this movement of supply chain. But it is also hannah mas wn that one country participate in the supply chain could be an anomaly for two or three countries participating from the region in the supply chain can create a cluster. Both panama and costa ricapa ply a larger role in the supply chain and is also very important that Central America in general and panama and costa rica specifically can become a new epicenter for semiconductors, and together obviously our aim is to compete with some of the Southeast Asian countries that provide an alternative. Thank you. Ill talk a little bit about panama, specific to panama. Panama is a of. We consider a hub of hobbes and objective in the supply chain is clear, to become a regional hub for the assembly, testing, and packaging of the chips. We have our infrastructure we have connectivity that sets us apart in this regard. Is one in the medium and long term. Let me get your comments as well on opportunities for coaster rica to further build on its history and being a destination building on the history with intel how are you looking at working with u. S. And also feel free to reflect on the comments made thus far. We cant you might be on mute. Okay. I can hear you, yeah. Thank you for having me and hello to everyone in the panel. As mentioned this before, this is our very Interesting Times for us in latin america and the senators mention, we should see this as opportunities to create prosperity in the region, which helps our countries be more stable and many that we have and also to develop on our on achieving more inclusive growth and sustainable development. Costa rica has done really well amid this, border town at certain times and our resilience has been met with very interesting opportunities for us. Includes opportunities to attract new investments and continuing the careful attention that has been given to the supply chains, especially in the Semiconductor Industry and this means that we can secure and decrease any associated risks. In costa rica has much to offer in support of the supply chains driven by reshoring because of what was mentioned because we are centrally located in the area and costa rica has access to Global Markets and work out free trade agreements and investment agreements that cover more than twothirds of local gdp and a stable and political a stable and political economy, and we have qualified human challenges and that has different its definitely been a differentiator for costa rica. So what have we been doing during this time . We have been strengthening our ties with top Level Companies that manufacture semiconductors in order to capitalize and listen to their needs. We have an ongoing dialog both in san jose and washington with this and this is crucial in deciding policy. And future strategies. Thank you, so much. I want to move on to really important, the importance of what youre saying as far as costa ricas work with the private sector specifically, right, and how youre having these consistent dialogs and i want to bring in two members. Private sector who are joining us on this panel. Start with you, kareem. Weve heard from both ministers and the vice minister about the importance of near shoring. Millicom is deeply committed to Broader Development in Central America and weve also worked together on starting the near shoring working group. Why is near shoring so important to the work of millicom and how can countries in the region draw greater attention and also get more Investor Confidence to the Companies Like millicom for their investments in the region . Thanks, jason. Thanks to everybody. And i think having three of my four ministers in countries in which we invest, obviously in guatemala, as i said, we went everywhere and the past three years, in the country. And also great examples of our commitment to the region. And so this is great and i hope theyre all using very nice connection because everything was there, and so, this is the reality here, right . We are we believe in it is an exercise and i want to thank jason and his team for starting this project because i think its a huge priority for obviously, for each of our countries, especially north and Central America. And think about it and been hearing a lot about, you know, obviously the conductor, but taken to all the rest of the sector, the textiles, the pharmaceutical and renewable energy. And see what is happening in the past year and a half in guatemala, and all the new investments coming, and it almost helps us i would not say just side, but sure there are investors doing the right thing because theres more and more of the companies that requires activity. You know, this is exactly what we want to do is continue to connect our region into the supply chain and to help with the international and also, with the other companies that start looking at this for opportunities to represent the other countries. And also, i think its going also to help us in focusing on one of the most important parts of near shore, because we have action access, not only to u. S. And europe, but access to where we are and we know our Human Capital is essential to justify near shore. More and more trained people not only in the language, but also the skills for semiconductors and how effective the challenges are. For us, really, this is a top priority and for me, its this. The regional approach. I think each of our countries have huge advantages, and some are more on the manufacturing, some will be more intellectual and the most important thing is to have a regional approach for them. That allow us to develop an offer for the company that wants to, you know, invest that were investing for a reason and thats the most important part and aware that its essential in order to be developing the trust. And i think the second thing is, we need to convince people that the region is used for opportunities, the reality is that this is a huge opportunity for all the americas to invest more and more in the region, in order to help and the challenges that we see here more on the immigration side and et cetera. Its a winwin and we need to focus together to help the region grow even more than what it is today. Thank you, kareem. I know that mr. Rosales has to leave to attend to an urgent matter and thank you, mr. Rosales and turn to theresa in a moment. Would you like to add anything before you leave and well turn back to theresa. Thank you for the invitation and officially in puerto rico, we should Work Together and be more competitive as a region and focus on that, because at the end of the day, our economy is going to grow and these types see a great need for our economy. And i want to thank the atlantic congresssional for this great event and every time you invite me, im going to be there. Fantastic, thank you so much. Theresa, let me go to you. You heard the ministers and as kareem was speaking as well. And trade of course requires improved logistics, supply trade management, trade financing, niece are all areas for flex port to work. Which of these areas present the biggest opportunities and also the Biggest Challenges as well for companies to export to the region . Well, let me thank you for having me, this is a great event and just to give awe little bit of context, flex port, were a Global Supply Chain Logistics company. We do work around the globe and were actively expanding into latin america, which is going to be a really important part of the world, i think. It will be a growing important part of the world in terms of supply chain and logistics, and one of the things that strikes me in the conversation is your tone around incluesivety. And when regions can Work Together on these issues it makes them a lot stronger. If you think about the world of Global Supply chain and logistics, this is an industry that actually has not moved forward. You know, jason, ive known you for while. My background was amazon and microsoft and during the world of cloud, we would go around the world and there was especially during covid, there was a lot of Digital Transformation going on, especially if you think about governments or these industries that had to find ways to get to their customers or constituents. And they couldnt get into their data centers, to their offices. It drove digital information. In supply chain and logistics, it did not drive that because they were so busy, they didnt take the time to do the Digital Transformation that was really required, so now, were seeing that begin to change and i think its an opportunity, as well, for latin america because when you talk about skills. You can also think about Technology Skills that are required, not just other skills around public works and infrastructure and financing. Those are, of course, key to success, but also the fact that Technology Skills because supply chains and logistics, you need the trackers, the individuals on the ground, the labor workers and youre also going to need technology workers. I would say its a great opportunity. The idea of working collaboratively, who do we talk to and how do we work and one last thing ill say, partnerships are so critical because Companies Like this need to get the partnerships. Whats your advice on how governments can most effectively partner with Companies Like flexport and joint efforts near shoring into reality . Well, i think theres two parts. Dialogs like these are important, but also helping us understand who is on their radar. Who in their countries are, you know, who is the trucking companies, who is the retail companies, who needs our help . In some of the areas, if you think about electronics and retail fashion, what are the types of goods in and out of latin america, then we need to like we need to connect ourselves with those retailers, but also, then work with Small Business partners, because again, ill just say, if youre going in, youve got to know the small trucking companies, too, you dont just want the small conglomerates, but also the larger ones. Also, if theres programs that they can do around policy that helps you get into the countries easier and then move cross border. Cross border is critical and anything today that were moving goods, trucks have to move the goods and not just ocean freighters and air. Fantastic, theresa. As we turn back to you, in addition to looking ahead and in addition to chips, panama has opportunities like green shoring. What type of new proposals or positions from the u. S. Government, and the definition, rit large. I mentioned the beginning of my comments, the combination of domestic poll factors that bring in and the International Push factors and we talked about the conversation with the senators, but from your perspective, what types of new proposals, what kind of incentives, we could really attract that investment, its so necessary into panama . Well, let me just say this first. I think that both kareem and theresa have nailed it in the head. I think number one, Central American companies and obviously has great experience dealing with Central Americans companies with costa rica, guatemala, panama. Theyve made important investments in panama and additional funds to increase investments. Why do they do that . First, they believe in the country and a mindset from a government perspective we have to facilitate private investment. We have to make sure that Companies Feel secure from a legal and an investment point of view. We have to make sure that there is the Legal Framework there available for countries to continue to invest in panama. And and weve done so. I think we have investment opportunities, we have our Legal Framework, but i think theresa mentioned something important thats collaborate with other countries in the region and with private companies. When we talk about collaborating with other countries in the region, we all can bring something to the table. Panama, as you know, has the panama canal, over 6 of world trade, world commerce, goes through the panama canal. We have important infrastructure when it comes to ports, for example, and thats what we bring to the table, costa rica has human resources, guatemala has obviously other important things to bring to the table when it comes to manufacturing, for example, so, the region has to think of itself not as isolated countries, but of one of the region as a whole we bring to the country, we bring to the table. But i think its important to bring your attention to green shoring. Panama is a leader, one of the only three native carbon countries in the world and important to mention, a blue leader with over 50 of our oceans declared protected areas. That is because this government, this iteration of new leaders believe that climate ap sustainability of central and must be central to our Economic Development strategy and we want to ensure that as we move closer to advanced economic status, that we keep in mind what really matters, which is building Sustainable Future for our citizens. Our impact on Climate Action is not only local, but global. This year, position, and ill give you certain examples. We hosted our conference, where representatives for over 190 countries make 361 commitments, valued more than 21 and 22 billion dollars to protect world oceans. The panama canal since its inception aimed to close the gaps in the maritime industry offering roots with shorter navigation time resulting in cost reduction, supplies, and consequently less carbon dioxide. Those are excellent points, were just about to conclude the panel and i want to bring in the vice minister one more time. Uabout umca and costa rica has been indicated that they may be interested in entering. And bringing them as members into that agreement how would that expand shoring opportunities. If you take about a minute. That would be great. We see it as a way to consolidate our trade investment with the United States. Kafta is old and its 16 years old and we need to modernize our frame work and usmca with the High Standard rules that we need for our industry supplies. And costa rica evolved from a country with a few products to 4,000 products to more than 450 countries around the world and 50 percent of our goods are destined to the north american market. So, it makes sense to consolidate and improve our trade framework and in that sense, origin with mexico and canada and to have the same rules and standards. So, we see the usmca as the right vehicle to move forward and upgrade our trade with the United States. And we see this as a trusted and secured supplier of products for the United States. We have talked to u. S. Companies, to business groups, to think tanks among others and we have found enormous support for this idea. We know it will take time, but were happy to see the senators, of course, the to know that there is some support from congress and the senate for this proposal. So we definitely see this as a way to move forward and we believe it would be a good message for the International Community and in addition for to see costa rica with trusted friends for the north american market. Thank you, kareem, the last point for infrastructure and high quality Digital Infrastructure and so far its advancing the efficient flow of goods and services, why is it so critical and also, any last comment as we wrap up the panel here. Look, i think the example is why its so critical, right . As you look on the map, you see out critical the infrastructure is. And you think about the infrastructure and we think of roads and bridges, but its essential, just as you open up the panama canal and you visit this, you will be impressed every piece of the canal, and its a supply chain thats managed and this is connectivity and this is really one of the most important parts. Spoke with my former employer long time ago and its a good example of what can be done in a country like costa rica. And i just want to finalize on i talked about Human Capital, okay . And i think you want to look at other parts of the region, of the companys region to look at i think that we have our core business, like the minister was saying, this is very important because look at the time there is and exceptional whats going on in our country and i think thats one of the most interesting parts. Guatemala, costa rica, incredibly countries doing a great job and this is one of the reasons why we have invested so much in the country. And specifically Central America can become an even more attractive more the investments of, you know, companies that theyre still not there. I think the more we establish the concept of rule of la the more were going to attract. Its like slow effect. And the government in guatemala attracts more and more investments. What we have to be sure, that that doesnt get blocked, that we work altogether and this is one of the reasons were so happy to support this in the council. I hope to be able to get more people coming because the more we focus about it, the more were going to see this in our region and very proud to be invested. Thank you, karim. And thank you, vice minister, theresa, of course, mr. Rosales who has already left and i think the first two conversations have already elaborated on what i mentioned in the beginning, the importance of both International Push factors the senator spoke about incentivizing near shoring, but the pole factors, in so far as bringing business to Central America and to the members hemisphere rit large. Well take a two minute break and be back with our next Panel Moderated by our senior fellow. [inaudible conversations]. As theyre transitioning the panel, there will be a reception 6 p. M. In the lobby, and streamed via cspan or social media and the fact that youre here in the studio and theyre not, but look forward to having our conversations after this panel. [inaudible conversations] all right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. If everybody could please take your seats. Please take your seats. All right. [inaudible conversations] four, three, two, one. Good afternoon, im the center fellow at the center at the Atlantic Council. What a pleasure and tough act to follow after the high level panels weve had with two u. S. Senators and two ministers from Central America and vice minister from Central America and bringing the private perspective. Well continue along the threepronged approach jason laid out at the beginning and the domestic factors in the region and third and finally, longterm version combined with shortterm results and one of the panels well get into more of the specifics every single within of the topics. Great to be joined by the hybrid panel, distinguished panelists in person and two panelists, virtually. Well move from the Central America region and look at the rest of the region. Well start with patrick, here in the Atlantic Council office, patrick, doing this amazing reshoring index annually and love to hear more about that and excellent resource thats global in school, a data base thinking through some of the tough issues and what are some of those in a global context. My question to you, patrick, first of all, based upon your reshore index which you do, again, annually. Do you think in recent years, that theyve pegged up or more of a hype. And the second question, how is the latin america and caribbean performing . Yes, but there is a but. The factors have shown that clearly mexico imports into the u. S. Are on a serious uptick. If you go back to just before covid and now imports from mexico to the u. S. Gone up by 26 . In fact, mexico is around 100 billion below china still, but has caught up quite a bit over time. And fdi in the First Quarter of 2023 in mexico has gone up 48 versus last year and also money being put into mexico and therefore, we expect imports further to increase. And of course, many of our clients are increasingly trying to shorten their supply chain because of the reasons that weve talked about and its more costly and time the products up on the ocean for six to eight weeks, its starting to become a pricey endeavor. And of course, weve also heard from ceos as part of our study that theyre increasingly asked by their boards to continue to evaluate near shoring and reshoring. In fact, 71 of ceos that we have, said that that was the case versus 38 last year so thats a significant increase. So all of these things tell me, yes, near soaring is definitely on its way up. The but part. So for that we need to look back a little to the last 10 years and thats the time frame that weve used in this study. What youve seen is that actually the share of chinas import into the u. S. Has actually come down as a share, not as an absolute dollar amount, thats actually continued to go up, but if you look relatively as a share, its come down and the first five years, 2013 through 2018, it went down by a couple of Percentage Points and vietnam was one of the Major Companies that benefitted from that. But if you look more carefully. 95 of the new capital and the new capacity thats in vietnam can be tied to china. Through chinese capital. Or through Chinese Companies. S okay. Good. Now, then in 2018, things started to change a little bit, they were put in place and we saw a further decline, but much more accelerated so the share of china imports in the u. S. Came down five times faster in those last five years, and as a result of that, the other Asian Countries couldnt quite pick up capacity as quickly so companies started to look for alternatives and thats why you see now mexico and also u. S. Rescoring starting to pick up quite a bit. But one of the things thats interesting about that is also Chinese Companies are part of that equation and in fact, we talked to a bunch of Shelter Companies who are saying that theyre seeing the amount of activities of Companies Looking to invest in mexico go up five, six times the last 12 to 18 months and half of those are chinese countries. So, what i would say is, weve got to be careful that were not moving out of china, were still not moving away from china. Thank you, patrick. Just so great to, after the high level conversation to be able to bring it down to the specific level. The changes youve seen in the last decade and Chinese Investment into the region and possibilities. Id like to turn over the next question on the screen, and maria is a Red Light Center fellow with asian Islamic Center and thank you, youre calling from where you are, its 11 00 at night and appreciate your commitment. Youre just such an expert on this issue. I want to ask you specifically about mexico. In tying along with what jason said earlier, specifically the point about domestic poll factors. We know that mexico is manufacturing powerhouse, but simply in terms of near shoring, what has mexico done so far, policywise or investmentwise, investments, practically, what else can be done . Sure, well, thank you so much, pepe, for having me today with you guys, such a timely topic. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you. Factors, what are they . The factors are several and i think one of them, very important has to do with the u. S. Mexicocanada agreement. Usmca, and the free trade agreement, total 14 with 51 countries in the world. And usmca offers the frame work, predictable, longterm rules for invests and producers. And the agriculture services. I think that a second factor is the high level dialog between the United States and canada. Why do i say this . The agenda items of the of both high level economic dialog include on one hand, strengthening the u. S. Mexico border issues. Strengthening the crossborder train and supply chain. Second High Economic dialog issue with work development. The third one has to do with the economy of the future, including Cyber Security among others and the fourth has to do with the development of southern mexico, where we have the development trained to connect the pacific and the gulf with but its a very important project at the infrastructure level the Mexico Federal government is currently pushing forward. In the mexicocanada economic value, supply chains, creating an environment to assisting north america in addition to inclusive. And i think the third factor for near shoring in mexico is attracting more investments has to do with investment in transportation, for example, railroads. We have the example of the north American Rail company, the service from canada to mexico, and also, colombia, and it will offer expedited services for companies, for example, in the automotive sector, and for what the Current Administration is doing to provide train transportation for goods and passengers in southern mexico. Another factor has to do with mexico has a young and talented work force. Our average age is 25, 9 years old, but the work force is recognized as talented and skilled one ready to participate in the supply chain. What more can we do . Rule of law and enforcement, enforcement of usmcas commitments and infrastructure related to land transportation, airports, logistics, telecommunications and we can actually support the kinds. In addition we need to train our Human Capital to adjust to innovations in the markets, such as biotech, Artificial Technology and nanotechnology. Last but not least, we cannot politicize the border. Its important that politicians do not take the border as hostage of domestic political agendas, especially there is election time, that we cannot block the border and we have to facilitate further trade. Thank you. Thank you for your insights as always, and before becoming a senior fellow at the Atlantic County undersecretary for trade in mexico. And i want to track back to the studio at the desk. And quite a full plate here at the u. S. State department in the western Hemisphere Bureau and ask you and the other speakers to keep your remarks relatively short as we move forward. The request he here is International Push factors. Maria told us a little about the domestic pull factors that we see on the mexico side. Turning the question to you, what can the u. S. Do . We heard from the senators and ministers from other regions about the issues and i think americas prosperity, american reduction act. And what are some of the opportunities that u. S. Efforts like that can produce in terms of promoting hemispheic in the region. Thanks, pepe. And thanks to the Atlantic Council for this, and its important that its a hybrid panel and everyone is talking both from government, private sector, think tanks and Civil Society we all need to be a part of this. Let me mention a few things that you raised in your question. The Inflation Reduction Act is what we have called the modern American Industrial strategy, identifies specific sectors that are important for Economic Growth and our National Security. In order to make these investments we need the private sector to do more, but we also know that government has to step in and play an incentivizing role. So, you know, the idea right now is for targeted public investment, unlock the power and ingenuity of the private sector and spur private Sector Investment which will be the foundation for longterm growth. So, one of the examples of that, youve mentioned the Americas Partnership and the inflationary reduction act. Ill just say on the inflationary reduction act, well build a clean infrastructure and eco system with all the supply chains in north america, and it contemplates 369 billion dollars in Energy Security and Climate Change programs. The chips and science act, which is to bring semiconductor and manufacturing back domestically. Weve mentioned it a few times here, not only domestically, but near to our shores, that provides 39 billion in Semiconductor Incentives and include 500 million for the state department not only in the western hemisphere, but in the indopacific region in other words, to work with our partners to secure critical mineral imports, strengthen industry quality, protect National Security and expand and diversify downstream diversity. And i want to mention the Minerals Security partnership which aims for critical supply chains and strengthen information sharing between partner countries, increasing investment and recycling technologies in secure critical mineral supply chains. The point on all of this, the race to react with our economy to sort of the trends that are developing, we want to do it right, we want to do it in a way that doesnt recap tour some of the practices of the past and make sure were doing it in the right way. Those are just some of the ideasments thank you, and great to hear about the Critical Minerals partnership as well. Even though the current stage is Central America, focus on Central America and mexico and we want to explore further down south in the country and the region. And i want to turn next to a partner with Baker Mckenzie based out of mexico city. Maria previously mentioned usmca, and that was mentioned the importance of north american integration. I know this is something you spent a lot of time working on. Let me ask you perhaps a quick two minute response, in what ways is usmca creating unique advantages for mexico specifically and of course for north american as we think about its global competition for near shoring . Hi, pepe. Thank you very much for having me. Im very glad to be here with this very interesting panel. Well, i think that the volumes of trade among the three countries start by themselves and showing what were capable in the region. As maria said, the u. Is mca modernized the legal frame work for north america and provided Legal Certainty and thats critical when its regulation and the markets. And i believe the cornerstone, we mentioned existed under nafta and in other ways, including the panelists and timing of procedures. And there is thats an important issue here, after two years of having the agreement enforced there have already been five cases under chapter 10 on trade remedy, four cases under chapter 31, which governs between states, and there are between mexico and the u. S. On the Mexican Energy policy and genetically modified points, but this does not mean that its not working. It means that countries must by the commitments made in usmca because otherwise there are issues, if a company is not its measure, then the retaliatory measures can be imposed. So, countries have to i mean, really moreover, the usmca was modernized and i think thats after an exhausting negotiation to which i think, that i think that the tpp set the foundation for an agreement with a very good economic, but also social view. Now we have labor and environmental conditions part of the agreement and therefore subject to the mechanism. There is a chapter on small and medium enterprises. One on anticorruption and one on and there are disciplines now that did not exist when nafta became effective, such as digital trade and telecom and modernized positions and intellectual property. All of these are opportunities for Companies Set back in the region, under the near shoring trend, but not only from our region. Someone mentioned earlier today, we see a lot from Chinese Companies that i think, okay, if theres a trade war, between the u. S. And china, well, near the u. S. , and benefits to mexico take benefit of the usmca and the same with european companies. So, the trend is not only having u. S. Investment moving out of china and closer to the markets, but its also attracting investments from other regions such as asia and europe. Thank you. Thats very helpful and i think everyone in the audience is now already understanding some of the nuances that exist on a daytoday level and bring that from the high level conversation from pat earlier. And i saw about the issues, we have the domestic poll factors and that ive mentioned. And i see usmca. Who you do you bring those through international thats been successful so far. There are some challenges, but of course, we can work through those and now i want to get nor specific into the opportunities and challenges. And im going to put everyone in a spot to have one minute response. When it comes to challenges, i want to stay with you, of course, ariana for bit, but ask patrick the first question, what is the top challenge that they face and how have you, for example, helped them navigate that and the same question ariana to you. Three, its starting to get crowded around the border everybody wants to be as close as possible to the u. S. Border, thats start to go get tight in terms of space and labor and so on. The second one, mexican supplies right now are busy, theyre not able to respond or give you a go away price, and they go and look for partners you want to look closely with, make it clear that youre serious, and then you get the attention and weve had some of our clients, sometimes four months pursue a supplier and get a good deal. And the third one is an ironic one. Whenever we talk about china, made in china is bad quality, a lot of folks are complaining or saying theyre challenged getting good quality both from reshored and near shored operations and thats why of the Chinese Companies coming over here are actually interesting from a u. S. Company perspective because theyre able to get, you know, mexican labor, mexican plants, but with the knowledge from some of the Chinese Companies theyve been dealing with past 30, 40 years that helps them get that quality. Thank you so much. And i think that shows additional nuance once again, bringing up this, when we talk about geopolitical, we bring the private sector. And mexico more attractive more attractive around the world and one minute response for you, ariana. One challenge, if you could of the clients youre working with, what would that be and how have you been helping to navigate that one. Inits lack of regulatory certainty, and setting up a company but most importantly the lack of application of the rule of law. On the i can mention programs in place for many, many years, and during this administration, despite the near shoring trend, we have seen less and less for new programs and thats because the requirements are being applied in a very stiff manner and were also seeing increasing and so i think the advice for companies is compliance, compliance, compliance, because if you abide by the rules and youre very, very strict in how you follow them, you should be able to do business and run your business in mexico, but if you face an audit, you have to be very careful on being able to demonstrate whatever you bring in, was transformed and exported, if you brought it in under a program and have very strict controls over your inventory control systems and youre getting a new program that just i think that compliance, to my mind is very much connected with what patrick it said. We see an opportunity we want to make sure that countries have the ability to absorb that, quantity and quality level. Thank you so much for that. Two final questions, one virtually to our senior resident fellow again, and this is once again, quick response. We taked with the challenges with patrick and ariana, we want to look at opportunities. What is one of the opportunities that you want to look at and perhaps a 30 second response about the call to u. S. Action from the u. S. Side . I think were lost with maria for a second so well skip that and go straight, again, we talked a little about what to expect from the region, its a twoway street. If theres am i if theres a message, what would you say . I think that everyone here has already said it, its certainty, right . And so, its a question of do we have clear regulatory framework, or do we have fair competition and with this administration, what weve been working on is increasing environmental standards, labor standards, and weve also had a very Strong Initiative on anticorruption. I think the challenge for us that were facing is that we have to get our policy tools modernized and in line and ready to go with the geopolitical competition that is quickly materializing before us and thats one of the challenges of trying to push the policy so that it keeps up with the private sector and what goes on within the countries. A final point. This regional integration that the countries themselves are also harmonizing in the way that they treat each other from a trade perspective, democracy, human rights, the more theyre doing that the mar theyre taking advantage and promote resiliency of the supply chains. Thank you, i think my job as moderator is very easy when the panelists refer to the previous points that theyve made and with senator kennedy and also, senator cassidy and mentioned about ensuring that transparency, anticorruption piece thats in place. That will conclude this panel and thank you for joining us in person and virtually and ariana, thank you for your expertise and you can go to bed there, its late. With that well move onto the final panel. Thank you. Bye. Thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] welcome to the final panel of todays event. Very different perspective and issues that we want to look into when it comes to resoaring. This final panel we take a step and a global perspective and thats very consistent with the approach that we take and we dont want to look at latin america as the region, but we want to look at it as an important actor in a global arena. With that, i think we have the best speakers to think about the global issues, and joining me both in the studio, and from Baker Mckenzie and Deputy Director and senior fellow. Ill start with a tough question. Reshoring and near shoring, thats not a new movement. We heard about near shoring, allied shoring, green shoring, a lot of buzz words. So, what really is new about the very latest of the movements . Especially i want to ask you through the lens of the geo economic status and you work on state craft and National Security. Walk me through that. Against the back drop of trade history, these are still quite new terms and also new in that it hasnt quite been proven that can be done. Were still experimenting with them. Ive noticed following the panels, the term near shoring is very popular with the countries represented, perhaps not too surprising given where they are and talking to washington. Not so popular with other u. S. Allies that prefer that ally shoring or perhaps friend shoring, because ally shoring is a bit too restrictive. Friend shoring was used in this very room on this stage when she made a speech not so long after the putin invasion of ukraine and message was very clear, and perhaps weve been naive, thinking that trade would make peoples principles and countries more similar to us. And there for we need to be less politically naive. And friend shoring, but near shoring in other contexts and i think in this context its popular. There are also other terms that are changing or evolving. Im glad to see the decoupling has been replaced with derisking. And i think its more important when the risks imposed on the globe by china. I think it would be naive to think that we could decouple from china overnight. And trade flows with china are recovering after the pandemic, but the investment is going in Different Directions to where it went before. So its an early signal that we are reorienting some of our trade flows, but that will take time and so, derisking, i think, is just much more realistic of a term than decoupling. Absolutely. Great call to friend shoring. I remember being in the same space when secretary yellen mentioned demonstrating, work and cutting edge of some of the conversations and you mentioned ukraine as well. So that when it comes to sanction, export control stuff, i cant help, but bring it to carrie. Youre a leading expert on these issues and love it hear more specifically about how sanction export controls have really impacted and affected global trade and production patterns and thinking about the near shoring conversation were having and do you see the pat earns it, for example . Thank you, from the beginning of the conversation today, jason mentioned there are push and pull factors, so now were back in the push factor territory and sanctions and export controls have really become part of this conversation, were hearing from our clients and Multinational Companies when theyre talking near shoring or ally shoring, friend shoring, whatever you want to call it, theyre thinking about the influence of sanctions and export controls that might push them towards a particular supply chain or away from a particular supply chain. You know, anything that causes disruption should be part of the conversation and we know that when sanctions are imposed they respect business. They can prohibit certain business and that needs to be part of the discussion. So, theres really no better example of that than the war in ukraine and the sanctions that were imposed against russia in the wake of that. We saw entire we saw entire supply chains that had to be shifted because they all after sudden became prohibited or too risky for Multinational Companies. That was a dramatic example. Maybe not one that well see every day, but it is a trend that will continue and in fact, even though it was kind of a dramatic, very extreme example of expert controls and the massive impact that they can have, it was actually a bit of a continuation of a trend that we were already seeing. Now, for probably up to around a decade now, weve been seeing sanctions and controls being used in a way that impact a lot of mainstream business and it wasnt just rowing actors and corners of society before. There are a lot of impacts through the world and we expect that trend to continue. Thank you for that. I think that once again, brings it to the daytoday level. What are some of the challenges and opportunities that businesses are facing in this evolving global context . I want to turn it over to charles, your final question for this panel. At the Atlantic Council we talk a lot especially about the eu partnerships, transatlantic. Thats important and when we talk about, for example, the recent g7 initiative, but im going to put you on the spot. This is an issue thats working from a global perspective. How does latin america, fit into this based on what you said earlier as well. Luckily i listened to the earlier panels and pick out some from them. Some of the ministers from Central America is staying, its reassuring that see there are some senators interested in the region. I think, unfortunately, every country is competing for interest in this. Proving to not just the executive branch, but the legislative branch that they are friends, that they are near, and that everything should be done to encourage firms to invest there. Its the firms that do the investment after all. The u. S. Government, the u. S. Governments powers have benefitted, but it can, through Market Access and also through trade facilitation, provide information that these are the right places to invest and it can also crowd investment into a particular destination by providing some of the seed capsule and thats being done by this government through usaid and other outfits. I was interested to hear in the second panels the ministers they didnt think that kafta was fit for purpose anymore, and they are some of the countries that have a trade agreement with the u. S. And its interesting to hear this isnt enough. Why . They look at usmca and see that that provided additional berths, benefits particularly with subsidies, where kafta dependent have access to them. I know a little about the ins and outs of the inflation reduction process and we dont need to go into that argument now. And certain provisions of usmca that made it necessary to provide for canada and mexico is nonsense. Canada did a very good job negotiating and mexico sort of benefitted from canadas negotiating prowess. It does mean, its the case that kafta do not have access for and i can why they want to push for this. And the u. S. Government is looking at friend shoring and lets be frank about this, the Biden Administration isnt too interested in talking about Market Access or subsidies going for going from the u. S. Government, from the treasury, going to manufacturers abroad. They can see the Political Risk to doing that and they want to be strict who they cut in. So difficult one. Very happy to see theres some interest on the hill and specifically in the senate, but they werent only talking about an act but they were only talking about a draft at the moment. And some of what the u. S. Government is doing, apart from the trade facilitation mentioned, the trade facilitation initiatives i mentioned, theyve housed all of this in a Partnership Similar to the eu, with the ttc, the asia pacific, its sort of talk sharp plus. Initiatives to do a trade facilitation, but hasnt gone that extra mile that i think the two senators are calling for. It would be nice to see that, but we are always competing for the attention of the u. S. Government, were in the queue, and so of are and the previous panel, once again, making my job easier, and finally, i want to turn it to carrie to close it out. No pressure, carrie after an impressive multiple panels and connect a few things mentioned early, including charles. And i think panels, including patrick mentioned increasing Chinese Investment in the region in addition to geopolitical said theres a practical aspect. Supply chains sometimes need to be global and regional. We think about resilience and striking a balance and regional and global earlier. As you think about your clients, Multinational Companies, potentially reorganizing semi chains. How are you helping that. That would be super helpful for the panel. Yeah, i would say two things, which are in some ways, quite simple. About you require taking a step back and getting out of the daytoday and putting some research and attention into this. One is Risk Assessment and the other is Contingency Planning and its hard to know how to weigh the balance if you dont know where the supply chains are and havent really looked at them deeply. Now, where are they. Are they overreliant on jurisdictions. Overreliant on jurisdictions that are for our sector or for our geographies. And Contingency Planning, and what are the worse case, but scenarios that happen and what are our alternatives and thats what id leave them with. Thank you for that. This panel and preceding panels, theyve left a lot to think about and i want to thank you both, and in person and virtually. What a way to kick off our work on reshoring, or friend shoring, as we think about these issues, stay tuned. We look at forward to the opportunities within the sectors, latin america and multilateral angle to that as well. Thank you again for tuning in, have a great rest of the evening. After his arraignment in miami, former President Donald Trump will be speaking in bedminster, new jersey tonight. Watch live coverage from the Trump National golf club at 8 15 p. M. Eastern on the cspan networks. Including cspan now, our free mobile video app and online at cspan. Org. Watch video on demand anytime online at cspan. Org and try our points of interest feature, a timeline that uses markers to quickly guide you highlights of key coverage. Use points of interest at anytime on cspan. Org. Today Senate Lawmakers are expected to consider several judicial and executive nominations, votes will be held on nominees throughout the day and also the senate will recess for a briefing on artificial intelligence. Live now to the senate floor here on cspan2, also online at cspan. Org and on our app, cspan now. The presiding officer the senate will come to order. The guest chaplain,