Texas Border Business
LAREDO (OCT. 1, 2018) – IBC Bank leaders, who have played key roles in the renegotiation of NAFTA, today welcomed news that terms of a new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) have been reached. The agreement continues the benefits of free trade between the three North American neighbors, with combined GDP of almost $22 trillion.
“USMCA will continue the free-trade benefits that have so positively benefited all three nations over the past 24 years,” said IBC Bank Chairman and CEO Dennis E. Nixon. “While all parties to the agreement will thrive, Texas had the most to gain from the renewal of NAFTA. This is a major win for Texas that will also keep the United States, Mexico and Canada economically competitive in an increasingly competitive world.”
Nixon is a member of the U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue, an elite group of U.S. and Mexican business leaders whose members address core issues in the bilateral relationship between the two countries. As a part of the Dialogue, Nixon meets regularly with his Mexican counterparts in the private sector to identify policy priorities and engage government officials at the highest levels in bilateral trade issues.
“The successful conclusion of these negotiations required a concerted effort on the parts of both government and the private sector,” said IBC Bank Executive Vice President Gerald “Gerry” Schwebel. “The new agreement reflects the hard work of individuals in all three counties to update NAFTA and maintain the world’s most important free trade bloc.”
Schwebel is a member of the U.S.-Mexico Economic Council, which ensured private-sector participation in all rounds of the NAFTA renegotiation process. In that role, Schwebel met with private sector counterparts from Mexico and Canada. In August, he traveled to Mexico City to visit with Dr. Graciela Marquez, the Mexican Secretary of Economy designee and Alfonso Romo, Chief of Staff designee and Liaison to the Mexican private sector for President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, as well as Foreign Ministry officials.
“The continuation of free trade under USMCA will have a profoundly positive impact on all three nations, but nowhere more so than in Texas and the border region,” said IBC Bank Senior Vice President Eddie Aldrete. “Before NAFTA, double-digit unemployment was common along the border. The new agreement keeps in place principles that will continue the increasing prosperity we’ve seen since the treaty’s implementation in 1994.”
Aldrete serves as Co-Chair of the Texas-Mexico Trade Coalition (TMTC), which represents businesses and associations dedicated to a strong relationship between the two countries. In that role, he led efforts among the Texas business community to advocate for the continuation of NAFTA with U.S. officials. TMTC was founded by the Texas Association of Business, Texas Manufacturers Association, Texas Business Leadership Council and the Borderplex Alliance.
IBC Bank executives have been intimately involved with NAFTA since the trade agreement’s original negotiations in the early 1990s. Throughout the latest round of renegotiations, they have played key roles in cooperative efforts with Mexican business leaders and in advancing common sense proposals for free trade with member of the U.S. Congress.
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