SAN ANTONIO – Despite of the uncertainty over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the mayor of Laredo said the nation’s largest inland port has seen record levels of activity.
Pete Saenz told a summit of border mayors Friday that the World Trade Bridge has gone from 16,000 to 20,000 trucks crossing daily. He said it handled $214 billion in trade last year.
“It’s made Laredo,” Saenz said, pointing out that Laredo has gone from a city of 65,000 people before free trade to a population of up to 270,000.
When asked about the ups and downs of NAFTA negotiations, Saenz said, “It looks better than before, but there’s still uncertainty. Obviously, we want Canada to participate as well.”
Only Mexico and the United States have been able to reach a 16-year agreement.
“Whatever the outcome in the negotiations, we’ll work with that. We’re willing to work with that,” said Sergio Silva, a member of the economic transition team for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the newly elected president of Mexico. “We’re going to make sure that trade flows and increases.”
The goal is to have the deal done by the time Lopez Obrador is sworn in Dec. 1.
“We understand that trade with the U.S. is the most important issue for trade policy in Mexico,” Silva said. “We want jobs in Mexico. There’s a huge correlation between those.”