The 2021 North American Leaders' Summit
On November 18th, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Washington, D.C. for the first North American Leaders' Summit since 2016. Through a series of bilateral and trilateral meetings, the three leaders and their teams discussed topics ranging from COVID-19 pandemic response to critical North American supply chains. The Wilson Center's programming surrounding the Summit included an expert commentary series by Mexico and Canada Institute fellows, a briefing by former U.S. ambassadors to Canada and Mexico, and a public forum featuring Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Check out some of the highlights below.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Wilson
The Wilson Center proudly hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Minister Mary Ng, and Minister Marco Mendicino on November 17 for a public forum that touched on free trade, Indigenous reconciliation, and emergency response to severe flooding in British Columbia.
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The U.S. could do worse than rely on its closest friend - its oldest friend, its most reliable friend - for ensuring that we're able to be strong and resilient in The North American context in an unstable world.
The Biden administration has asked for a billion dollars a year as their plan to invest in the northern tier of Central America and they're also, really for the first time, very openly going after bad governance in those countries because you cant invest in getting industries to invest.
One of the things that I learned in participating in North America Leaders' Summit and other summits, is that one of the most important parts of it is the fact that it focuses the mind of the bureaucracies in the respective countries.
If the summit can ensure that US policymakers in particular understand the crucial role that Canada and Mexico need to play in Washington’s new strategic paradigm vis-à-vis Beijing, it will have started the ball rolling in the right direction.
While U.S. and Canadian leaders have a mandate to create jobs in their respective countries, the temptation of some to exaggerate the negative effects of Canada-U.S. trade is troubling.
Presidents López Obrador and Biden, and Prime Minister Trudeau, must generate a common North American competitiveness agenda around regulated labor mobility and migration.
North America’s leaders were long called the “Three Amigos”. As Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hold the first Leaders’ Summit in five years, they look more like the “Three Vecinos” – neighbors, but not close friends.
The 2021 North American Leaders Summit - Expectations and Opportunities
Fellows and staff from the Wilson Center Canada and Mexico Institutes comment on the first North American Leaders Summit since 2016, hosted by President Biden on November 18th, 2021.
North America: Its Rise, Fall, and Possible Rise Again
Canada Institute Global Fellow Richard Sanders writes on the history of the North American idea and where the case for North American integration stands.
Ground Truth Briefing | The 2021 North American Leaders' Summit
Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson gave a Ground Truth Briefing the morning before leaders met in Washington for The North American Leaders' Summit,
Resuming North American leaders summits could accomplish much
Preceding their Ground Truth Briefing on Wednesday, Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne and Ambassador David Jacobson published an op-ed on the case for the return of North American leaders summits as the world reemerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.