West Wing Week
02/21/14 or “Don’t Make Small Plans, Make Big Plans”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/02/21/west-wing-week-022114-or-don-t-make-small-plans-make-big-plans?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=022114-topper
This week, the
President traveled to the North American Leaders Summit in Toluca, Mexico, to
California to address the current drought and to meet with the King of Jordan,
and to Upper Marlboro, Maryland to announce an increase in fuel efficiency
standards for heavy trucks. That's
February 14th to February 20th or "Don't Make Small Plans, Make Big
Plans."
President Obama
Travels to Mexico for the
North American Leaders’ Summit
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/02/19/president-obama-travels-mexico-north-american-leaders-summit
Today, the President
traveled to Toluca, Mexico
for this year’s North American Leaders’ Summit,
along with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper.
Shortly after
arriving in Toluca,
President Obama held a bilateral meeting with President Peña Nieto. Before
their meeting, President Obama gave some initial remarks on the summit:
[T]he North American
Leaders’ Summit gives us an opportunity to build on the enormous progress that
we’ve already made in making sure that North America is the most competitive
region in the world and that we are able not only to continue to integrate our
economies effectively to create jobs both in the United States, Mexico and
Canada, but that we’re able to project American and Mexican and Canadian goods
and services around the world toward the benefit of our people.
And the cooperation
ranges from how do we make our borders more efficient to moving forward on the
Trans-Pacific Partnership that offers the opportunity to open up new markets in
the fastest, most populous region of the world, the Asia
Pacific region.
We'll also have the
opportunity to discuss how we can work together more closely on scientific and
educational exchanges. We're particularly interested in making sure that young
people in Mexico and the United States and Canada are able to study and travel
in each country, and we're trying to expand those kinds of exchanges.
So this is a
wonderful opportunity for us to build on the work that we’ve already done over
the last year.
Following the
bilateral meeting, Presidents Obama and Peña Nieto attended a working lunch
with Prime Minister Harper. After lunch, President Obama had a “walk and talk”
with Prime Minister Harper, before all three leaders delivered remarks to a
group of North American business, civil society, and education leaders.
During the remarks,
President Obama reiterated all three leaders' desire to strengthen the
"already incredible" ties between the three nations:
If you think about
North America, to have three borders this long in which we share a common set
of values, a common set of principles, a commitment to democracy, a commitment
to free markets, a commitment to trade where we are allies and interact
peacefully, that is a precious gift. And it’s one that I think all three of us
are committed to building and nurturing for future generations.
This evening, the
three leaders participated in the Trilateral North American Leaders Summit meeting, and are
holding a final joint press conference to conclude the day’s activities.
Remarks by President
Obama before Restricted Bilateral Meeting
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/19/remarks-president-obama-restricted-bilateral-meeting
Remarks by President
Obama, President Peña Nieto, and Prime Minister Harper to North American
Business, Civil Society and Education Leaders
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/19/remarks-president-obama-president-pe-nieto-and-prime-minister-harper-nor
PRESIDENT PEÑA
NIETO: (As interpreted.) Your Excellency, Barack Obama, President of
the United States of America; Your Excellency, Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
of Canada; ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests: We are here gathered with representatives
from the public, the private, and the social sectors. All of you have walked along with us in the
construction road to a more competitive North America. And by this, we will have a higher level of
development for our peoples.
Members of the media,
Mexico welcomes you with
open arms to celebrate the North America Leaders Summit, Toluca 2014. Besides being Toluca,
my hometown, this is the place where I was entrusted by the citizens to serve
as the governor of this state, the state of Mexico. The state of Mexico
is a clear symbol of the productive integration of North
America due to its geographic location and its connectivity. Here we have seen the settlement of advanced
automobile facilities and very important logistic hubs. Both are a true example of value chains,
global value chains that make North America
excel.
That is why, from Toluca, the three leaders of North
America confirm today our commitment to position our region as one
of the most dynamic and competitive of the whole world.
I celebrate the fact
that we have gathered here with prominent representatives from the academia,
from the private sector, and from the civil society from North
America. Your contribution
has been vital to bring Canada,
the U.S. and Mexico closer. With a clear vision in mind, all of you
pushed from the onset the great idea that gathers us today -- an integrated North America with goals and shared efforts.
Once, the Free Trade
Agreement area was the largest free trade area with an unprecedented push of
trade exchanges, regional investment, and the creation of millions of
jobs. With the same innovative spirit,
two decades after, we are bound to go beyond and enhance all together the
progress that each one of our countries has made, because individually all our
countries have moved forward as well.
Therefore, the
principal topics of this seventh summit are very clear: First, inclusive and shared prosperity. Number two, new opportunity areas. Number three, citizen security. And fourth, regional and global topics. It is upon these four topics today we will
work together to boost the economic growth of our countries and a generation of
quality jobs, and by this, increase the wellbeing of our societies.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Canada, the United States and Mexico share strengths that make us
move forward. We are a community of more
than 450 million inhabitants where talent and creativity of our peoples
excel. Trade exchanges from the three
countries are over $1 trillion; in Spanish we use billions, in English we use
trillions. We have the support and
thrive of our entrepreneurs and the capabilities of technological innovation
coming from our universities and large companies.
We have principles,
we have institutions that make us be solid democracies. We have natural resources, endless natural
resources and new opportunities so we can take advantage of them sustainably.
All of these are
factors that lay a solid groundwork for North America’s region, and this is how
we will make it a more attractive and competitive region in the world for the
upcoming years. I would like to invite
you, respectfully, so that each one of us from the area where you have the
responsibility to act, let’s make North America a more competitive and a more
prosperous region for the sake of the inhabitants of our countries.
Thank you very
much. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. Bonjour.
I want to thank Enrique for his extraordinary hospitality and for
bringing us here to his beautiful home city.
I want to thank the people of Toluca and
of Mexico
for your great hospitality.
We’re all here on
business, which means I’m not here as long as I’d like. I have not, for example, sampled some of Toluca’s legendary chorizo. (Laughter.)
And hopefully the next time I stop by, I’m going to be able to have some
of that.
All of us -- Stephen,
Enrique and I -- are focused on how we can deepen what are already incredible
ties between our three nations. And I
appreciate that all of you are here today, because governments cannot do it
alone. The strength of the relationship
between Canada, Mexico and the United States is not just a matter
of government policy; it’s not just a matter of legislation. There is an incredible richness to the
relationship that comes from our people, from our businesses, from our
commercial ties, from the students who are traveling back and forth, from the
cultures that are shared between us.
And that strength is
in some ways unique throughout the world.
If you think about North America, to have three borders this long in
which we share a common set of values, a common set of principles, a commitment
to democracy, a commitment to free markets, a commitment to trade where we are
allies and interact peacefully, that is a precious gift. And it’s one that I think all three of us are
committed to building and nurturing for future generations.
And for me this is
very personal. Some of my closest
advisors and allies and political friends are the children of Mexican
immigrants who have made an extraordinary life and contribution in the United States. My brother-in-law is Canadian, so you know I have
to like Canadians -- (laughter) -- although I will note that I think we are
going to have both the men’s hockey teams and the women’s hockey teams battling
it out. (Laughter.) So for a very brief period of time, I may not
feel as warm towards Canadians as I normally do -- at least until those matches
are over.
But each of you
experiences these connections in very concrete ways. Enrique already spoke about the volume of
trade that takes place, and the interactions between our businesses, and the
subsidiaries of companies in each country that are operating in the other. And so much of the cross-border trade that
exists is part of an integrated supply chain that allows us, all three of us as
countries, to successfully sell our products and services all around the world.
And so we have every
incentive to make this work. And so a
lot of our conversation has focused on how do we reduce any continuing trade
frictions; how do we make sure that our borders are more efficient; how do we make
sure that the educational exchanges between our young people are expanded so
that our young people understand their opportunities will be brighter and
expanded if in fact they’ve had the opportunity to study in Canada or to study
in Mexico, if they know Spanish, if they know French.
And we use these
forums to make concrete progress. Our
staffs work incredibly hard to make them successful. But, frankly, until our leaders come around,
until the three of us meet, sometimes it doesn’t all get done. And this becomes a forcing mechanism for us
to move forward on commercial progress, joint security progress, progress on
educational and scientific exchanges.
But -- and this is
the last point I want to emphasize -- there are always going to be parochial
interests in each of our countries, so that’s appropriate and that will express
itself politically, and we have to be responsive to our own
constituencies. If, in fact, we’re going
to continue to build and strengthen the ties between our three countries, then
you can’t just leave it to politicians alone.
All of you are going to have to speak out and speak up on the importance
of this relationship.
We want to make sure
that we’re your partners and allies in this process, but when people understand
what this means in terms of job creation in the United States, job creation in
Canada, job creation in Mexico, how this relationship enhances our security,
how it improves our capacity to heat our homes and grow our food and make sure
that young people have opportunities in the future -- when they hear that from
you, it’s that much more persuasive.
And so I would
encourage all of you to continue to make your voices heard. You’ll have certainly a partner in me, and
I’m sure that you’ll have a partner in Stephen and Enrique as well.
I thank you for
participating here today. And once
again, Enrique, thank you for the extraordinary hospitality in this beautiful
state and this beautiful city. Muchas
gracias. (Applause.)
PRIME MINISTER
HARPER: Bon après-midi. Buenas tardes. Good afternoon, everybody -- wonderful day
and we’re delighted to be here in Toluca. And it’s easy to see why you’re so proud of
your hometown. It’s a wonderful spot
here.
And, Barack, it’s
always great to see you. And I like my
brothers-in-law, too. (Laughter.) And I’ll probably like them no matter who
wins the hockey game. (Laughter.) Anyway.
I want to also thank
all of you being here, in particular, obviously, the delegation that has
accompanied me from Canada.
(As
interpreted.) Today we have this
opportunity to make this North American market more competitive. You are entrepreneurs, you are job creators,
employment creators all over this continent.
(In English.) -- with so many business people here, as well
as academics and others, to discuss how to make North America, which is these
three economies combined, which is nearly one-quarter of the world’s economy
more prosperous and more competitive.
And it’s particularly
fitting that it would be you as civil society and business leaders who would
lead such a discussion, for although it was NAFTA and the Canada-U.S. Free
Trade Agreement before it that opened up the opportunities, this is a trade
alliance that, in fact, consists of very little top-down infrastructure. It has been businesses, people on the ground,
social interactions, academic interactions which have advanced relations,
particularly economic relations that go well beyond trade.
Today, Canadian,
American and Mexican companies do much more than sell things to each
other. You increasingly make things
together through integrated supply chains.
Now, for example, we talk about the fact, in Canada
obviously, that the Canadian-American trade relationship is the largest in the
world -- certainly, the U.S.
is our largest export market. But
Canadian exports to the United
States contain an average of 25 percent
American content. Likewise, Mexican
exports to the United States
include an average of 40 percent U.S. content.
(As
interpreted.) So this is why we want to
tighten our relationships and increase the competitiveness in the region. And we call on the entrepreneurs -- of
course, the Canadian and U.S.
companies are grabbing occasions and opportunities in Mexico -- throughout
the continent to create employment seedbeds.
(In English.) Jobs include organizations as diverse as
TransCanada, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Beef Canada, the
Canola Council, Linamar, Scotiabank and many others that I know are represented
with us here today. And they have
tremendous growth prospects in fields such as energy, in education, agri-food,
information and communications technologies, banking and financial services,
and many, many others, particularly when one looks at not just the rapid
transformation in this country over the past 20 years, but the very aggressive
reforms that are being undertaken by President Peña Nieto’s administration.
(As
interpreted.) And having said this, the
world, the entire world is not what it used to be in 1994.
(In English.) Different realities from 20 years ago are
realities we must adapt to today. They
include obviously the ongoing uncertainty, market uncertainty that remains from
the global recession and also from a global economy that is much more
competitive from many other regions.
(As
interpreted.) We must work together to
be able to break barriers and for the benefit of our populations.
(In English.) And so, as Canadians, Mexicans and Americans,
we need to look for ways to work together and to look forward.
Thank you for being
here. (Applause.)
END