Mission to Washington: American Chamber/Mexico on both sides of the border.

ON SEPTEMBER 19th, AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO CEO Larry Rubin, with a delegation of business executives and Chamber leaders from Monterrey and Guadalajara, attended the annual "Forecast on Latin America and the Caribbean Conference." The event was hosted by the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA) and took place over three days at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

During the conference, AMCHAM leaders convened with counterparts from chambers throughout the hemisphere to discuss trade and investment issues facing our respective countries. Headlined by speakers such as U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and Congressman Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), the event provided AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO the ideal opportunity to engage decision-makers regarding issues pertinent to member companies.

With the recent passage of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) by the U.S. Congress, reduction of trade barriers throughout the Americas took center stage at the conference. Many of the gathered officials touted the successes of NAFTA as an example for the rest of the hemisphere to follow.

Secretary Gutierrez praised the expansion of free trade throughout the hemisphere and spoke about the increase in commerce between North American countries in the years following NAFTA. He stated, "NAFTA has been a runaway success and the numbers support that," as the economies of each country have grown by more than 36 percent since implementing the free trade agreement. Furthermore, U.S. exports to Mexico have grown by 117.99 percent in the first ten years of NAFTA, while Mexican exports to the U.S. have increased by a staggering 214.99 percent during that same period.

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OAS Secretary General Insulza spoke of the importance of increased trade and investment in combating poverty. Insulza characterized the private sector as the engine by which growth can "deliver the benefits of democracy to everyone." By spurring trade and prioritizing corporate social responsibility, businesses can complement the work of government institutions and improve the lives of the poor by creating more jobs.

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Congressman Ortiz, a key figure in the fight for trade liberalization in Congress and one of the few House Democrats who voted favorably for DR-CAFTA, asserted that "trade is the best diplomacy a country can undertake ... it shows the best of our culture." Ortiz is an important ally for the business community because he supports trade liberalization based on conviction rather than partisanship.

Chamber leaders took full advantage of their time in Washington by independently meeting with officials throughout the U.S. government. Walter Bastian, the deputy assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the Department of Commerce, met with Chamber representatives to discuss the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). The SPP, established by the leaders of the U.S., Mexico and Canada earlier this year, provides the NAFTA countries with a forum for improving the flow of legitimate trade across their shared borders. At the same time, the SPP strives to bolster security measures across the borders without compromising the expeditious flow of commerce.

Bastian informed Chamber representatives that the private sector can play an important role in this partnership by informing government agencies of discrepancies in the product norms of each member country. Currently, product standards on certain goods are different in the three countries. The SPP, however, provides a forum for harmonizing standards and will thereby improve commercial flow in North America.

Secretary Gutierrez echoed these themes at the conference when he said that the SPP would "make the flow of commerce safe and seamless" and "ensure that North America is the strongest and most competitive market" in the world.

Additionally, AMCHAM established a broad partnership for a new project that will highlight the successes of NAFTA and the importance of the SPP. The Chamber, along with the grass roots network of over 2,000 local, state and national chambers from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada will be working together to show how NAFTA helps small businesses throughout North America.

Furthermore, this project will include input from the Department of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, Congressman David Dreier's office (R-CA), the Small Business Administration and the Mexican Embassy in Washington.

Small businesses as well as multinationals have benefited from free trade and AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO will be leading the charge to highlight the facts surrounding NAFTA and the SPP.

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Michael T. Parker is coordinator of Government Relations at AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO