Border city mayors from the United States and Mexico meeting in San Diego on Thursday signed two formal resolutions pledging support for international trade and funding for border infrastructure programs.
“Tijuana and San Diego represent a $255 billion economy and one of the busiest land border crossings in the world with a flow of 50 million people per year,” said Tijuana Mayor Arturo González.
“Our Cali-Baja region will continue to work together to strategically develop our economies to uniquely position our bi-national area for success. By joining forces, we will compete globally,” he said.
The resolution on trade specifically calls for Congress to ratify the new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The new USMCA deal updates the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement with enhancements that are expected to improve manufacturing, agricultural and digital trade sectors.
More than 15 mayors are participating in the two-day summit at UC San Diego. It is the eighth annual meeting of the group.
The mayors also signed a resolution urging federal leaders to provide the North American Development Bank with a capital increase and restore funding for the U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program in the fiscal 2020 and 2021 budget process.
“Our border mayors play a critical role in building bridges between our two countries, and working together we can create shared prosperity for our border regions,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who is co-chair of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association.
“These resolutions represent our collective voice calling on our federal leaders to invest more in border infrastructure and modernize trade to grow economic opportunity on both sides of the border,” he said.
