North American Competitiveness Working Group
Can U.S. Economic Leadership Launch a New Era of North American Regional Competitiveness?
The center in collaboration with the George W. Bush Institute, the Future Borders Coalition (Canada), the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI) and the Institute of the Americas, has convened a working group to evaluate and make recommendations on the United States’ emergent industrial policy and its impact on the relocation of global production chains, particularly relating to North America.
The working group will propose policy approaches to ensure that the current moment of U.S. fixation on China strengthens North American economic integration, boosting the productivity, prosperity and competitiveness of the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Why Now?
There is an exceptional bipartisan consensus in Washington, D.C. regarding China. China is on track to supplant the U.S. as the world's largest economy and has emerged as a strategic rival with clear ambitions to become the leading global strategic country. In the vision of confrontation with China, President Biden represents continuity with his predecessor Donald Trump. What has changed is the mode of confrontation.
President Biden's two signature legislative accomplishments, the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will bolster the emergence of a domestic economic policy aimed at strengthening the U.S. industrial base, particularly regarding the manufacturing of semiconductors, electric vehicles and products related to clean energy and the decarbonization of the U.S. economy.
Given other challenges to the globalization model, including pandemic shortages and the sanctions prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global supply chains are at the center of the discussion in North America. The political and economic rationale for “nearshoring” is prompting renewed discussions about the merits of an integrated North American trade and investment as well as considerations of a broader economic community that could include Central American nations.
Because of their geographical location as neighboring countries, their reliability as partners, their complementary economic strengths, and the framework provided by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), both Canada and Mexico have proved their worth as essential partners for U.S. supply chains. Although Central America has a narrower industrial base, it also presents cost and access advantages that make it a strong potential link in North American supply chains.
White Papers
President Biden’s Industrial Policy and Prospects for North American Regionalization by John McNeece
Steering Committee and Co-Chairs
Steering Committee
Sergio Alcocer, President, Mexican Council on Foreign Relations
Laura Dawson, Executive Director, Future Borders Coalition
Cecilia Farfán Méndez, Head of Research, Center for U.S. Mexican Studies, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director, Center for U.S. Mexican Studies, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Richard Kiy, President and CEO, Institute of the Americas
Matthew Rooney, Senior Advisor, George W. Bush Institute
Co-Chairs
Ambassador Louise Blais, Senior Special Advisor, Business Council of Canada
Luz María de la Mora, Non-resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
Shannon K. O’Neil, Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Members
Members
Juan Carlos Baker, General Director, Ansley Consultores
Jon Barela, CEO, Borderplex Alliance (El Paso-Juárez-Las Cruces)
Anna Victoria Barrera, Director, Public Affairs UPS Canada
Alan Bersin, Senior Advisor, Covington & Burlin
Michael Bomba, Research Associate Professor, University of North Texas Center for Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Heather Brason, North American Trade and Supply Chains Specialist
Luis de la Calle, Managing Director and Founding Partner, De la Calle, Madrazo, Mancera, S.C.
Enrique Dussel, UNAM
Caroline Freund, Dean, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Gary Gereffi, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Duke University
Carolina Giuga, Senior Director, Government and Public Affairs, Americas LEGO Group
Sergio Gómez Lora, CEO, Business Council of Mexico Representation in the U.S.
Kyle Handley, Associate Professor, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Gordon Hanson, Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Beatriz Leycegui, Partner, SAI Law & Economics
Meredith Lilly, Associate Professor and Simon Reisman Chair in International Economic Policy, Carleton University
Tiffany Melvin, President, North American Strategy for Competitiveness (NASCO)
The Honorable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (2003-2006), Former Deputy Prime Minister Canada
Valeria Moy, General Director, IMCO
Antonio Ortiz-Mena, PhD, Partner, Dentons Global Advisors
Cindy Ramos-Davidson, CEO, El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Juan Antonio Reboulen, Director, Institutional Relations and Commerce, DeAcero
Vanessa Veintimilla, International Affairs General Director, Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores
Ambassador Julián Ventura, Senior Advisor, Albright Stonebridge Group
John McNeece, Senior Fellow for Energy and Trade, Center for U.S. Mexican Studies, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Alvaro Santos, Director, Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas, Georgetown University