U.S. to Host Canadian and Mexican leaders at Three Amigos summit

It will be the first meeting of the “Three Amigos” since 2016. Joe Biden will be hosting  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the White House next week.

This event had been an annual tradition for the three leaders since 2005, until Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, causing the summit to be postponed for four years.

“This year, priorities include finishing the fight against COVID-19, getting the job done on vaccines, tackling the climate crisis, creating new middle-class jobs, building an economic recovery that works for everyone, and migration,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Office said in a statement.

Canada has a lot to say. A proposed tax credit for American-made electric vehicles will be at the top of that list, as part of the Biden administration’s ambitious economic and social spending package titled the Build Back Better Act.

According to critics, the $12,500 credit for new-car buyers in the U.S. would give Big Three automakers an unfair advantage and undermine the highly integrated auto manufacturing process between the two countries.

In addition, Canada has expressed concerns about Biden’s strong Buy American rhetoric, which includes a more strict vetting process for foreign contractors and suppliers looking to capitalize on an effort to rebuild the United States’ infrastructure.

Pipelines are something Canada and the US need to talk about. When cancelling Keystone XL expansion was on Biden’s “Day 1” agenda, and the White House has been drawn into a dispute between Michigan and Enbridge Inc. over a planned upgrade to the cross-border Line 5 pipeline.

Softwood lumber and dairy imports are among the long-standing continental irritants. U.S. complaint about Canada’s rules for importing American-made milk is the first major trade dispute since the US-Canada-Mexico Agreement came into effect.

Aside from supplying critical minerals and rare-earth elements, Canada is also eager to play a strategic role in supplying the batteries and electronic components that are so crucial to the rapidly expanding North American electric vehicle industry.

The Business Council of Canada’s president and CEO, Goldy Hyder, called the meeting a “important opportunity” for all three countries to strengthen their economic ties following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The council’s agenda for the meeting includes promoting a united North American economic front, advocating for Line 5 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Original source material for this article taken from here