Mexico City – U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Anthony Wayne yesterday evening met with Mexican Secretary of the Economy Bruno Ferrari, underscoring the importance of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral trade relationship, valued at approximately $1 billion a day.

"The U.S.-Mexico relationship is about shared prosperity. Mexico’s goal of closer integration mirrors our own goal of closer integration, and the successes of our NAFTA partnership speak for themselves in the $1 billion of commerce crossing our shared border each day. I point to the positive resolutions of the Long-Haul Cross-Border Trucking issue, which beginning this year will facilitate the business relationship for trucking firms who wish to do business in the United States," Ambassador Wayne said following the discussions.

Other areas of cooperation discussed during the meeting include the promotion of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the sector that generates the most new jobs.

In one such program, the Embassy’s Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) hosts monthly seminars aimed at reducing the obstacles faced by SME owners, such as access to finance and an understanding of import/export regulations.

As representatives abroad of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the FCS also recruits Mexican SMEs to participate in buyer delegations to trade shows in the United States, and works to partner visiting U.S. companies with SMEs in Mexico.