Ottawa, Jul 9 (IANS): Top trade officials of Canada, the US and Mexico announced that the three countries will work to ensure trade flows in emergency situations.
Canadian Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng, Mexican Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier and US Representative Katherine Tai met on Thursday and Friday for the second meeting of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) Free Trade Commission, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a joint statement issued late Friday, the ministers directed the commission's Competitiveness Committee to complete, within 90 days, negotiations on the establishment of a sub-committee to cooperate during emergency situations in order to maintain, re-establish, or otherwise address issues related to the flow of trade between the three countries.
A working group under that sub-committee will also be set up to coordinate on a shared understanding of critical infrastructure priorities, according to the statement.
The CUSMA entered into force in July 2020.
The trading bloc has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of nearly $25.1 trillion and a population of 495 million people.
The total value of merchandise trade between them reached nearly $1.2 trillion in 2021, according to the Canadian government.