By Xinhua,
New Orleans, United States : Leaders from the United States, Canada and Mexico focused their first day of summit here Monday on issues concerning the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
U.S. President George W. Bush met his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in separate one-on-one meeting before they have dinner together later in the day.
“Our trade has tripled, and our economies have grown,” Bush said in the meeting with Calderon. “This has been a very positive aspect for both our countries.”
For his part, Calderon stressed the “many benefits” of NAFTA, saying that it has helped create jobs for both countries and reduced the number of Mexicans emigrating to the United States.
“I stress this issue because recently NAFTA has come under criticism,” Calderon said. “And I do not believe that people are realizing how many benefits NAFTA has brought, both to the United States and to Mexico.”
In the meeting with Harper, Bush also put the spotlight on the importance of the free trade agreement that went into effect in 1994 and helped remove barriers to trade and investment among the three countries.
“I assured the prime minister that I’m a strong advocate for free trade,” said Bush.
“I believe it’s in our nations’ interests that we continue to have a free trade agenda. All of us want to make sure we’re treated fairly, and we can do that,” Bush said.
Bush said that the summit, the fourth of its kind since its launch in 2005, came at “an opportune time to reaffirm the benefits” of the free trade agreement.
According to U.S. government figures, from 1993 to 2007, trade among the NAFTA nations more than tripled, increasing from 297 billion U.S. dollars to 930 billion dollars.
The leaders’ apparent emphasis on NAFTA appeared to be in response to criticism raised by U.S. senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who are locked in a bitter struggle for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination.
During recent campaigns, the two candidates threatened to pull back from NAFTA if elected, in an effort to reach out to ordinary American workers. Both Canada and Mexico have expressed concern about their intentions.
Except for the likely trade issue, the so-called “Three Amigos’ summit” appeared to lack a dominating issue, as the three leaders also spent their first day at the summit conferring on topics ranging from energy supplies and environmental protection to anti-drug cooperation.
Analysts have basically precluded expectations for any major breakthrough at the two-day gathering, the last for Bush, who has been labeled as a “lame duck ” for the fact that he is set to step down early next year.
The three leaders will continue the summit on Tuesday morning with a more formal joint session.