[inaudible conversations] we are live not at the use conference of mayors wintry meeting here in washington, d. C. This morning the group is holding a discussion on trade policy. We would have mayors of san diego and little rock come also mayerson canada and mexico, and ambassadors from those two countries. Live coverage here on cspan2 should start momentarily. [inaudible conversations] good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I know we had a busy morning. Welcome all of you. Encourage you to take your seats. We have a great panel this morning and welcome our live cspan audience as well. Im kevin faulconer, mayor of san diego. Welcome. Our session today is trade the americas and beyond, one of the most important topics that weve been dealing with, certainly in our area, in a region so i think all of my fellow mayors were here today, members of her audience and our panelists who you will hear from a just a second. There has never been a more critical time for cities around the entire country to Champion International trade and what that means, a trait that his success and the foundation for so many good quality jobs that have been created. Thats what were going to focus on today i can send unique perspective, knowledge from our fellow mayors, ambassador fits i will introduce images to second. As. As you know the use conference of mayors has taken some very aggressive positions on the importance of free trade over the years in terms of the transpacific partnership, laws enforcing environmental standards, the fact we fought for intellectual Property Rights just to name a few. Great progress but obviously i work continues. Today we talk about how important that trade exports are to our cities, and those in mexico and canada, and at that relationship has prospered as a talk about the issues of nafta. Mexico and canada are among our countrys largest trading partners and well will hear at that in just a second. But first i thought i might share just for a minute how important the border cities and how important trade is to cities like san diego and tijuana. I will introduce my friend ned colleague mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum from tijuana just a second. Its not about to cities, its one region and how we are working together, how we are creating good quality jobs on both sides of the border, have trait in others jobs and goods flow is incredibly important to our economy. San diego alone, approximately 110,000 jobs that are in our city because of nafta, because of trade. Mexico being our cities number one trade partner. Canada being our second. Were delighted to be here with all of you to get a unique perspective on some of the issues that are facing us as cities, as mayors, particularly as negotiations are taking place this very week on nafta. Its about jobs, its about dollars, it is about moving forward. So im delighted to help moderate the panel here today. But first id like to introduce, we will go through some speakers, id like everybody to speak or maybe just about three to five minutes. Want to make sure we have time for questions and dialogue from her fellow mayors across the country for our session long today. So for selected introduce the director of the adrian ash latin america said on Atlantic Council. Jason will provide us a brief overview on the nafta process picked his conference work with Atlantic Council on pastorate issues and look forward to ongoing collaboration. Please help me welcome jason marczak. Thank you very much, mayor faulconer. Its a pleasure to be a, pleasure to be with the conference of mayors, to be here with you mayor, ambassador gutierrez, mayor iveson, thank you very much for having me here. What i will talk about for a few minutes as a process of negotiating come renegotiating that spirit was oftentimes talked about is the likelihood of a new agreement and what that agreement may look like, im optimistic about that melissa but what that process looks like and sometimes where negotiations didnt. First before doing so i called you know nafta after nearly 25 years is fundamentally a part of the use economy every state in the country counts at least, counts one nafta country as a least one of its top trading partners. Without nafta or water down nafta we all lose, we lose economically, who strategically. Mayor faulconer has mentioned the importance of jobs pick in california over to one of 15,000 jobs depend on nafta. Iowa as well, theres 20,000 jobs in iowa. This is a big, big deal across the country. New numbers show 1. 8 million jobs being lost without nafta. So where are we now . Negotiators are meeting in montreal for the sixth round of talks with this is an incredibly pivotal round pick as many of you know negotiations and started last august with the u. S. Laying out a number of demands for rules of origin to a sunset clause that were top, tough and hard for number of our nafta partners to swallow. Up until this round theres been progress but the progress has been limited more to minor and tactical issues of the accord. Not addressing many of the central concerns of the u. S. Administration. Although comments for trade negotiations tackle relatively straightforward issues first and turn to other questions later we got little to no progress on some of those Major Authority issues but im hopeful seeing whats happening in montreal this weekend that were starting to see some of the progress, the more complex issues due to some real compromises. Wonder the things were looking at nafta as well, the u. S. And canada and mexico of also had a of discussions prior to the u. S. Transpacific partnership withdrawal. Especially on the tactical lingwood on digital issues has already been discussed as part of the discussion the three countries that had prior to nafta discussions. I believe also the u. S. Administration has served from so many pivotal players including mayors and governors of a consequences of scrapping the deal and i think that makes withdrawal all the more unlikely. The aspirations to finish the agreements, made outlined by march the for the mexican president ial Campaign Kicks off at the end of that month. A lot needs to be achieved before then. After all, most Free Trade Agreement take on average about 18 months to sign, 45 months to implement from the first day of negotiations. Thats a tall order but something our nafta partners can we work on it together. What happens next . First it depends on progress this week. If theres momentum that is likely negotiators will soon meet again. If not we may see substantial time elapsed until the next round of negotiations. Two months passed before the end of the last round and this one. Those two other factors applicable u. S. Front and both involve congress. First, trade Promotion Authority. He gets the president the ability to negotiate a without having to worry about congressional amendments. That trade Promotion Authority expires july 1. It can be extended to july 1, 2021. If the president wants to extend it he must submit a report to congress by april first, that includes reasons on why he seeking an extension to congress doesnt have to approve that extension but either the house or the senate can disapprove of it. But without trade Promotion Authority the president hands to negotiate a new deal are tied. The second factor to be aware of is a final agreement takes time to move through congress. And International TradeCommission Report must be produced. House ways and Means Committee is also produce a report before goes to the full house. The same process must happen onn the senate side with the finance committee. After march the senate and house are only both in session for 73 days. The whole process doesnt conclude when the next Congress Takes power in january 2019, we start again. So mayors your involvement will be critical as this process continues to move forward. The legacy of nafta very much affects states, cities and towns across the United States. 33 u. S. States count mexicos one of the top export markets and 35 main candidate as most foreign market. Foreign trade is local jobs that you even on a smooth functioning agreement. I think we have a great opportunity build an agreement that is benefited the United States and its partners and to make it even better. We can set the standard for the future of trade but we really cannot afford to get it wrong. I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. Thank you for that overview and particularly overview on the timing. Next is my pleasure to introduce canadas ambassador to the United States, mr. David macnaughton whose expense includes work at the federal and provincial levels pick as an advisor to the minister the department of transport, industry and foreign affairs, he was a principal secretary to the the premier of ontario from 20032005 20032005 and chairman of strategy corp. For 2005 until his appointment. Ambassador, thank you for not only being here this morning but for hosting the mayors the other eating. Its a pleasure to have you here. Thank you very much, and it is a pleasure for me to be here and i really enjoyed last night i was particularly please not only do have some of the canadian mayors, don iveson and some of his colleagues, some is from across canada that i was also struck by the number of u. S. Mayors who came up to me and said we are so pleased, we just, which is able to create 300 jobs because Canadian Company invested in our city. We have a great relationship with canada. We trade actively. And i think the stories around how successful the relationship has been and is is really important to get through right at this point. I will talk a little bit about what i see in the nafta negotiations and what were trying to achieve as a country, and share that with you. And that is, i think, you know, nafta has been extraordinarily successful in terms of building competitiveness into north america on a global stage. We have many of our companies, many of our regions have become way more competitive globally than they were 24 years ago. And i think we face an even larger challenge now. In the next ten, 15 years our competitors are getting more aggressive, topper. People are investing in technology. We are going to have to keep up. And we can do that by simply saying, you know, over the last 24 years, one or other of us lost any of the 11. What we we have to be able to do is look at the nafta modernization as an opportunity to grow all of our economies and to make sure this region is the most competitive region in the world. That will benefit all three of our countrys. And so when we looked at some the proposals that were being made in terms of the renegotiation, we agreed with many of them but the were some of them that we felt were not going to achieve the goal of growing all three countries and making our economy more competitive. And, frankly, there were many u. S. Businesses in u. S. Regions who agreed that some of the proposals were being made were counterproductive to being able to achieve that goal. Ambassador [inaudible] yeah. You know, we try to point that out. We tried to make that point at the negotiations, and late last year, you know, there was some discussion about whether we were right or whether we were wrong. But the point was made, well, if you think our proposals are not good enough, come back and tell us what you think will work. And so i think one of the important things thats happening right now, and its happening not just in terms of canada but also mexico and the United States, is the people of put the thinking caps on and said all right, how do we make it good for all three of us . So on rules of origin, on socalled sunset clause, on dispute resolution, on all of the critical matters, it isnt just a matter of saying no, we dont agree with you. It is, all right, how do we make this works what works for all three of us . I think thats the process we are engaged in right now. It wont be easy because of those are tough issues. There is a universal acceptance of our position within canada. Im sure that ustr will have some pushback from some of the proposals they have put on the table from u. S. Interests. But i think it is very much in our interests to make sure that before the end of march, or certainly in the next short while, belly come to resolution which gives the communities that you represent and the businesses throughout north america the confidence that they can invest and grow the economy and create jobs. And i think thats what our common goal is, and i know, you know, in every trade negotiation theres always a bit of drama. I mean, we had it in tpp. We have had it in our negotiations with the europeans for a trip is going to base some drama before this is all resolved. Having said that, i think increasingly the perception and the reality is, is yes, nap has got some flaws in it, we need to cure it. But the consequences of breaking nafta apart would be bad for all three countries. And i think thats the most Important Message that you can help us to convey. And i can assure you that from, we have been trying to put constructive proposals on the table and will continue to do so. So. And i think given the relationship between candidate and the United States and mexico we will find a way to get this done. I was saying last night, for those of you who were there, very few americans understand this, but the United States exports more to canada than it does to china, japan and Great Britain combined. We are a Huge Customer of your goods, 35, 36 billion surplus you up on manufactured goods. And all i i know is that when i was in business, if i had a customer who wasnt that big, i can to try to take care of them in a little bit. And you are our biggest customer and we want to make sure that we work with you to achieve a a gd result for all of us. Thanks. Thank you, mr. Ambassador. Our next guest is mexicos ambassador to the United States, Geronimo Gutierrez fernandez is named ambassador to mexico on january 2017 with a 15 year year career, Mexican Federal government. He served in prominent positions in the areas of trade finance, diplomacy, National Security under for president. Mr. Ambassador, welcome. Its great to see you and welcome to u. S. Conference of mayors. Thank you very much, mayor. Its a pleasure to be here. We really appreciate the opportunity to be part of the conference of major programs, these past days. Its a privilege to participate with the rest of the speakers and the spam and is always an honor to share the floor with my colleague and good friend ambassador macnaughton. Let me first strike, why discussion, talk about why is the discussion were having a board. I think there are several reasons. The first one is that everybody agrees that nafta must be its 25 years old, you need to be updated, improved, but certainly not discarded. And nowadays nafta is more about, in a sense about not so much about how much do we trade among ourselves, which as ambassador macnaughton was saying, is a significantly big figure, but about how to reproduce together and remain competitive to compete with other regions of the world. The second obvious reason is that there are in the neighborhood of 14, 15 million jobs and use that are directly linked to north american Free Trade Agreement. Not unlike it happens in canada and mexico. So we are all concerned about better and more and better jobs in north america, but it is precisely by improving nafta that we are going to achieve that. The other reason is that over the course of the last 25 years, nafta has become really a backbone, in my view, of the overall north america relationship. And whatever happens with nafta, its going to pretty much set the tone beyond the economic consequences of the north america region, and the north america relations. Whether its on security, defense, many other areas of cooperation which in fact, we have been working very well as north American Partners over the last 25 years. Finally, 80 of the global gdp is precisely generated in cities like the one you lead and represent all over the majors. And whatever, you know, the past days after the expression on the part of several mayors say we really represent where the rubber hits of the road. And its true. You have to deal with the frontline in dealing with citizens and residents and communities. And over the course of the past two days ive heard from all of the mayors, how important the trading relationship among our countrys is for the wellbeing of your communities. So i think theres very good reasons why we need to get, yes, and prove nafta updated, modernize it but make sure we get it right and that we keep it going. As you know there are negotiations right now taking place in canada, so i wont go into very much detail right now. Ill leave that to the expert on the trade negotiators. But i think that two things that are, where are we at once the foreseeable future . I will just mention briefly to comments. The first one is, over the course of the last year, on the three countries, the governments have heard loud voices from governors, mayors, the private sector, academia and all sorts of institutions, peoples that it come out and say you have to really get nafta right, you have to keep nafta going. And that i think has been very positive, and it is certainly an Important Message for the three federal governments that has, you know, has changed the tone over the conversation over the last year, right . Private sector, anywhere you talk, everywhere you go will mostly tell, in my experience, governments, please get nafta right, these keep nafta going. So that something very important. Finally i would say theres a lot of speculation. I think that ambassador macnaughton is right on point. We do believe that we should try to get an agreement on the most important issues as soon as possible. Because theres a lot of investment and a lot of Economic Activity that its really w