September 2020

The Baker Institute Center for the United States and Mexico seeks to have a meaningful impact on the U.S.-Mexico relationship through original research, relevant solutions to binational policy issues, and the advancement of mutual understanding by convening leaders who can bridge the world of ideas and the world of action. Please find below our quarterly newsletter, which provides the latest information on the center’s activities.
 

The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations: Strategic Foresight

This edited volume, the result of a two-year plus research project, critically examines the U.S.-Mexico relationship, applying a strategic foresight methodology to identify the variables that will likely impact its future health, project the possible outcomes under the current political climate, and examine the broader challenges of the coming decades. Each chapter explores the future of U.S.-Mexico relations, focusing on relevant topics such as trade, immigration, the environment, drugs, health and security, among others. Most chapters are co-written with scholars from the United States and Mexico. Click here for more information.

Upcoming Events

Webinar — Assessing the Impact of the USMCA’s New Rules on the Auto Sector
Automotive goods account for 25% to 30% of total manufactured products traded in North America. Join a panel of experts on Oct. 14 for the third webinar in the USMCA series as they consider the new rules and challenges facing the auto sector under the USMCA. Click here for more information.

Webinar — The U.S.-Mexico Relationship: A Conversation with the Honorable Christopher Landau
At this Oct. 28 webinar, the Honorable Christopher Landau, United States ambassador to Mexico, offers his views on the important bilateral relationship and a pathway to a prosperous, productive future. Click here for more information.

Webinar — The Mediterranean and Central American Migration Crises Examined
At this Nov. 18 webinar, a panel of experts examines the struggle to accommodate migrant and asylum seeker arrivals both in the United States and in the European Union. Click here for more information.

Webinar — Improving the Environment Under the USMCA
This webinar on Nov. 18 — the fourth in the series on the USMCA — will feature a discussion of the USMCA’s chapter on the environment, which incorporates major improvements over NAFTA. Click here for more information.

Webinar — Cross-Border Customs Issues in USMCA Implementation After Five Months
The focus of this Dec. 9 webinar — the final in the series on the USMCA — will be the real-world impact of the many changes on enterprises engaged in cross-border trade. Click here for more information.

Past Events

Webinar — Investment Protection Under the New NAFTA: Problems and Prospects 
At this webinar — the second in a series on the USMCA — experts  discussed the implications of eliminating the investor-state dispute settlement process between the United States and Canada and significantly reducing its scope for U.S. investors in Mexico. Click here for video of the event. 

Webinar: 2020 Election Series — The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations: Politics and Diplomacy
This webinar, based on the recently published volume “The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations: Strategic Foresight,” described how the political and diplomatic layers of the U.S.-Mexico relationship are likely to unfold over the next two decades, the outcome of which will affect millions of North Americans. This was the first in a series of webinars presenting our recently published volume. For more information on the project and upcoming events in the series please visit this page. This event, sponsored by the Center for the United States and Mexico, is part of the Baker Institute 2020 Election Series, which highlights critical policy issues ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Click here for video of the event.

Webinar — A Conversation on Ratifying and Implementing the USMCA: A View from Congress
This webinar provided the context in which the USMCA — the most important U.S. trade agreement in a quarter century — became a reality. The Honorable Kevin Brady, U.S. representative for the 8th congressional district of Texas, and the Honorable Don Beyer, U.S. representative for the 8th congressional district of Virginia, discussed how the USMCA came to be. This was the first of a series of five webinars on the USMCA, co-sponsored by the Center for the United States and Mexico and Haynes and Boone, LLP. Additional support for the series is provided by Transnational Dispute Management. Click here for video of the event.

Webinar: Mexico's Changing Business and Regulatory Environment in the USMCA 
Given that Mexico is both a major destination for American investment and a key commercial ally of the United States, it is crucial to understand how the regulatory and business environment is changing and what it means for doing business across the border. To speak to these changes and the challenges and opportunities they represent, the Center for the United States and Mexico and Control Risks co-hosted a webinar exploring the current situation and what to expect in the coming months. Click here for video of the event.

Webinar: Examining the New Environment for Renewable Energy in Mexico
At this webinar, a panel of experts examined setbacks in Mexico’s renewable energy policies and discussed how the country can avoid falling further behind in a sector that may hold the key to a more livable planet. This event was co-hosted by the Center for the United States and Mexico and the Center for Energy Studies. Click here for video of the event.

Webinar — USMCA’s Entry Into Force: Prospects and Challenges for North American Trade
Held on July 1, the day the USMCA entered into force, this webinar explored the prospects for success and the challenges of implementing the new USMCA through a conversation with former members of the NAFTA and USMCA negotiation teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico. Click here for video of the event. 

Recent Publications

The USMCA’s Future in Context
In the final report of a series focused on the USMCA, fellow David Gantz considers the trade-related matters that could affect the success of the USMCA as a mechanism for encouraging investment, creating new jobs and enhancing consumer welfare in North America.

Undocumented and Unprotected: Health Challenges for Immigrants During the Covid-19 Pandemic
This report, co-authored by research analyst Pamela Cruz, explores the health barriers and vulnerabilities of undocumented immigrants during the coronavirus pandemic, reveals gaps in the Covid-19 relief bills and considers the implications for immigrant children.

Immobile and Vulnerable: Migrants at Mexico’s Southern Border at the Outset of Covid-19
This paper, co-authored by Luis Arriola, summer 2016 visiting scholar, examines the grim situation faced by migrants in transit, who remain stranded in Mexico due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Avoiding Conflict? United States and Mexico Future Security and Defense Scenarios
This research paper, co-authored by nonresident scholar Richard Kilroy, looks at the key drivers impacting national security and defense relations between the United States and Mexico and offers four possible scenarios for the future, along with policy recommendations to support the avoidance of conflict.

Organized Crime and the Coronavirus in Mexico
The drastic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on organized crime in Mexico requires policymakers and law enforcement in the U.S. and Mexico to adapt their strategies, write nonresident fellow Gary Hale and nonresident scholar Nathan Jones in this policy brief.

The Land of the Setting Sun: Mexico’s Disregard for the Law in Renewable Energy Policy
This issue brief, by nonresident scholar Miriam Grunstein, examines the legality of the decrees issued by the National Center for the Control of Energy (CENACE) and the Department of Energy (SENER) in Mexico earlier this year, which were intended to prevent renewable energy companies from connecting to the transmission grid. 

There is More to Mexico than Pemex
The oil boom in the 1970s and early 1980s and the resulting social and economic crisis left policymakers with valuable lessons that — considering today’s conversation on the role of the oil industry in Mexico — should not be overlooked, writes Adrian Duhalt, postdoctoral fellow, in this blog post.

Mexico Centered Podcast

To listen to all of the episodes, please click here. The podcast is also available for streaming on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and Radio Public.

Recent Episode

• The Future of U.S.-Mexico Security and Defense: Richard Kilroy, nonresident scholar, and Abelardo Rodríguez Sumano of Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico discuss the key drivers impacting national security and defense relations between the United States and Mexico and offer possible scenarios for the future, along with policy recommendations to support the avoidance of conflict. 
  
  

In the News — Highlights

For the most recent media appearances, opinions and interviews of our experts and scholars please follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

• Scholars of U.S.-Mexico relations recently looked at what will happen between the two countries 25 years from now, including in the energy sector, using a methodology known as strategic foresight. Tony Payan, center director, talked with Argus about some of the broad trends featured in the resulting book, “The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations.”
• Tony Payan, center director, said the Trump administration’s push to update NAFTA created two-and-a-half years of uncertainty among investors, which resulted in some projects being put on hold. “Nobody was celebrating with champagne after the deal was signed,” Payan said to the Houston Chronicle. “From the Yukon to the Yucatan, all you heard were sighs of relief.”
• Rodrigo Montes de Oca, research scholar, talked with Jose Ramon Cossio on Aristegui Noticias about Houston’s response to the coronavirus pandemic (Spanish)
• “Mr. López Obrador is visiting Washington partly to figure out a way to avoid — and stem — some of the more negative effects of a potential second term by a Trump administration,” said Tony Payan, center director, to the Dallas Morning News. Jesus Velasco, nonresident scholar, in a LSE US Centre blog post, writes that despite criticisms of AMLO over his visit, the summit will be a win for the Mexican president, who is seeking international legitimacy at a time when Mexico faces multiple crises.
• “This is a time for us to build up, to prepare, because the community’s needs might have even become more complex,” said Luz Garcini, nonresident scholar, to the American Psychological Association of the Supreme Court decision to block Trump’s efforts to immediately end DACA. “DACA recipients, their families, and their communities have been under constant and chronic stress for a very long time.”
• “No agent ever asked me in three years to build a wall, they wanted improved technology,” said Gil Kerlikowske, nonresident fellow, to FCW. 
  
  

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Get involved with the Center

Meet the 2020 Center for the United States and Mexico team and policy experts here and the fall semester interns here.