As a continent, we are unique. We are three large democracies committed to freedom, human rights, equality, and creating real opportunity for everyone. We share deep ties as friends and trading partners.

Over the past 30 years, the economies of Mexico, the United States and Canada have become closely tied thanks to NAFTA. That agreement helped grow our economies, it created millions of good jobs, and free trade across our borders has attracted investors from all over the world to our continent.

Free trade through NAFTA has helped make our economies among the most competitive in the world. It makes sense why, combined, we are home to half a billion people. We have an extraordinarily strong innovation ecosystem. Our combined GDP is larger than that of the European Union, and as leaders, we are all dedicated to driving economic growth that supports the middle class and those working hard to join it. These are all foundations of a strong and resilient continental economy.

People remember what happened just a few years ago when the certainty of this partnership was in question, investors, businesses, workers, and citizens all worried about what would happen. When free trade is at risk, that isn’t good for competition in the global market. Thankfully, the belief in free and fair trade won the day. We renegotiated and we got an even better deal. To put it simply, we are and always will be stronger together.

The world today is facing a lot of uncertainty with the rise in authoritarian leaders causing global instability and the high cost of living putting stress on families at home. It’s important that we come together as leaders and as friends to look at ways to make our economies more resilient.

Today, we discussed how we can build reliable value chains on this continent for everything from critical minerals to electric vehicles to semiconductors. This is good for workers, good for consumers, and good for communities across our countries.

COVID-19 showed us the importance of supply chains and economic resilience, as well as the importance of preparing for future pandemics and trying to prevent them. Today, we discussed ways to strengthen our cooperation in the field of health to that we are prepared to act.

We can boost our economic resilience even further through our work to build a clean economy, things like clean energy, including hydrogen, manufacturing, zero-emission vehicles, and encouraging more people to adopt them. This is an enormous opportunity for workers and for business.

We must all take part in climate action, governments and the private sector must work together toward reaching the 2030 targets. These targets are not simply a matter of reducing pollution in order to reach the Paris targets, they are also part of our commitment to conserving 30% of our land and oceans by 2030. Last month, at COP15 in Montréal, Canada brought together countries from around the world, and we reached a historic agreement to protect nature. A healthy environment is vital to the health of our economy.

Canada is pleased to have our Mexican and American friends committed so strongly to protecting clean air, clean water, and a brighter future. Canada’s also pleased to see all three countries take steps towards building a more diverse, equal, and inclusive society, a society where there is opportunity for everyone, where women and girls are politically and economically empowered, including Indigenous women and girls, where the benefits of growth are felt by workers and families across the economy.

By doing this, we create a more stable, prosperous, and equal future, and we build economies that work for all North Americans. We made progress on a lot of different things today. There’s a lot going on in the world right now and as North American leaders, we recognize the roles our countries play in being a source of stability and security not just in the region but around the world.

This summit was productive and allowed us to reiterate our shared vision and the strength of our partnerships.

I know we’ll make much progress in the coming year and I look forward to hosting you both in Canada for the next North American Leaders Summit.

Thank you.

Gracias.