The recent North American Leaders Summit in Mexico was seen as a perfect opportunity to try and kickstart the trilateral partnership. While there was no headline grabbers or major breakthroughs, the NAFTA partners still moved forward on some crucial issues that centered around North American competitiveness. They developed a shared set of priorities and established a roadmap for enhancing cooperation in areas such as trade, transportation, energy, as well as border facilitation. This includes creating a North American trusted traveler program which is part of ongoing efforts to establish a fully integrated continental security perimeter. During separate bilateral meetings, Canada and Mexico also took steps towards strengthening political, economic and security ties.


Going into the North American Leaders Summit, there were various disputes between the NAFTA partners which threatened to derail the event. Nevertheless, the leaders managed to put on a united front. They committed to pushing a North American competitiveness agenda, along with other priority areas for action. In the end, any success at this year’s trilateral meeting will not be able to be properly measured until the next leaders summit which will be hosted by Prime Minister Harper in 2015. At that point, we will have a better indication on any progress that was made in implementing key deliverables that were announced and not to mention any subsequent initiatives that are also later launched. Although some of the buzz words have changed and the path towards achieving deeper integration has been altered, the goal for a North American Union remains the same.

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