White House confirms Biden to host Trudeau, López Obrador next week
November 10, 2021
President Joe Biden will host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the White House on Thursday, Nov. 18, for the first North American Leaders’ Summit since 2016, the White House said on Wednesday.
What's on the agenda: “During the Summit, the United States, Mexico, and Canada will reaffirm their strong ties and integration while also charting a new path for collaboration on ending the Covid-19 pandemic and advancing health security; competitiveness and equitable growth, to include climate change; and a regional vision for migration,” the White House said in a statement.
What's in the background: The meeting comes as Biden is being pressured by Republicans to take more aggressive action to deal with the flood of immigrants trying to cross the U.S. southern border. Business groups and lawmakers have also raised concerns about actions taken by López Obrador's administration that they say threaten U.S. agricultural exports and energy investments in Mexico.
The Canadian and Mexican ambassadors to United States also signed a letter led by their fellow ambassadors from Germany and the European Union expressing concern about a proposed U.S. tax credit for electric vehicles that would only be available for cars made in the U.S. with union labor. The two countries have also challenged how the U.S. is implementing automotive rules of origin under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Biden-Xi summit watch: Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that a much-anticipated virtual summit meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping is also planned for next week. There was no official White House confirmation of plans for a meeting as of Wednesday morning.
“We don’t have anything to announce,” a senior administration official said. “We have an agreement in principle to have a virtual bilateral meeting before the end of the year. Working level discussions are underway to confirm details.”
That echoed what White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday at the daily briefing.
“So, as we've said, we have an agreement in principle with the PRC that President Xi and President Biden will have a virtual bilateral meeting before the end of the year,” Jean-Pierre said. “But I don't have any updates for you at this time or announcement on a time on this.”
Source: https://www.politico.com/
