WASHINGTON (Al-Jazeera) -The leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico have hailed their reinvigorated partnership after their first summit in five years, but nagging tensions over trade and immigration remained largely unresolved.
The so-called “Three Amigos” meeting in Washington, DC on Thursday was the first of its kind since 2016, after being discontinued when Donald Trump took over as president.
“Together as North America we stand strong, and look to better build back our communities, our infrastructure, and our shared future as integrated partners,” U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a joint statement after the summit.
They agreed to meet again next year, this time in Mexico.
The three countries are bound by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement, which governs some $1.5 trillion a year in North American trade.
After the meeting, Biden said the array of challenges discussed, which included trade, migration, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic, can be addressed “if we just take the time to speak with one another, by working together”.
Despite the positive statements, the meeting yielded few breakthroughs on several tense topics.
In addition to feuding publicly with Trudeau, Trump threatened to abandon the free-trade agreement and imposed tariffs on Canadian aluminium and steel.
He also declared a national emergency on the Mexican border and used incendiary and xenophobic language about undocumented migrants crossing the border with Mexico, although he ultimately forged a working partnership with Lopez Obrador.
Still, Canada and Mexico see echoes of Trump’s “America First” approach in some Biden policies, particularly as he seeks to reinvigorate the slumping U.S. industrial sector.
Mexico and Canada have voiced alarm over a Biden proposal for a tax credit encouraging U.S. production of electric vehicles. Cars and trucks are the most-traded manufactured product between the three countries
On Thursday, Trudeau told reporters that Ottawa would “continue to do the work necessary to not just highlight our position but find solutions” after the summit did not yield any shifts on Biden’s plans.
Another sticking point is Biden’s “Buy American” policy for the federal government in its plans to replace its huge fleet of automobiles, which Canada has called undisguised protectionism.
Mexico’s Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier, who attended the meetings on Thursday, had previously called on the U.S. to abandon its “Buy American” agenda and instead focus on “Buy North American”.