Bush seeks to cement legacy of ties with Canada, Mexico

President Bush greets Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the opening of the Mexican Consulate in New Orleans Monday. The president, Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are attending the North American Leaders' Summit in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

By BEN FELLER
The Associated Press

4/21/2008

NEW ORLEANS — President Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon mounted a defense of their economic partnership Monday, pushing back against anti-trade sentiment.

Opening the North American Leaders’ Summit here, Bush and Calderon praised the North American Free Trade Agreement, the deal that opened up the world’s largest trading zone.

Trade among the United States, Mexico and Canada has surged from $290 million a year to nearly $1 trillion since NAFTA began 14 years ago. Yet in a slumping U.S. economy of lost jobs, trade has become a target of disaffected workers, unions and Democratic presidential candidates.

“Our trade has tripled, and our economies have grown,” Bush said, noting that once poor border regions now prosper. “This has been a very positive aspect for both our countries.”

Calderon backed Bush’s words. He said the trade deal has helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs for both countries and led to better choices for shoppers.

“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.”

Bush was also meeting one-on-one with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. For Bush, it is his fourth and final summit, one centered on expanding commerce and coordination on border security, product safety and other common interests.

Trade expansion was the early, dominant theme of the summit. Heading into the meeting, Bush said he plans to talk to Harper and Calderon about expanding trade in the Western Hemisphere.

The timing comes as the United States is mired in an economic slide, and many displaced workers and labor leaders blame trade for shipping jobs overseas. A particular political target is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which turned the U.S., Mexico and Canada into a giant trade zone 14 years ago.

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have threatened to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA as a means to pressure Canada and Mexico to negotiate more protections for workers and the environment. Bush calls the idea isolationist and reckless.

He sees trade with friendly nations as essential to economic growth and national security. He and his counterparts are expected to use the platform of the New Orleans summit to defend NAFTA. And Bush, frustrated by a stalled free-trade deal with Colombia, will again urge Congress to put it to a vote.