BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity Inc., held a webinar with Cameron County International Bridge System titled “2020 Cameron County Trade Trends Webinar.”
The program, in English and Spanish, also featured Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Cameron County International Bridge System Director Josue Garcia, Jr., and Bob Parker, port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Port of Brownsville.
Collating data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Roberts looked at imports and exports through Cameron County’s various bridges, pointing out that the county does $18 billion worth of trade with the world.
Ken RobertsWhile trade is down because of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the world economy, Roberts sees reason for optimism.
“We’re in the middle of this tough but things will get better,” Roberts said.
Florida-based Roberts said that in 20 years of studying international trade he has never seen as much disruption. He said this has largely been caused by the tariff arguments between the United States and China.
One of the questions asked of Roberts focused on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is the successor trade deal to NAFTA.
“What is in the middle of the transition from NAFTA to USMCA is pandemic and the economic fallout. I think even without that the transition would have been gradual,” Roberts said.
The trade expert said there are not a lot of differences between the two trade agreements.
“But some of those involving automotive in particular will have some impact because there are some changes to the wage requirements that affect only Mexican labor, not Canadian or U.S. labor,” Roberts said.
“And then there are some changes that affect the quantity of parts that will go into cars that are eligible for the tariff elimination. What remains to be seen is will people abide by the new regulations to avoid the tariff or just pay the tariff with the less expensive, essentially Chinese motor parts.”
In his remarks, Judge Treviño spoke about the importance of international trade to the Rio Grande Valley.
“We all know that our border trade is the backbone of our region and our stakeholders are the true driving force behind the statistics that will be presented and discussed here today,” Treviño said, in his opening remarks.
“It goes without saying that trade and the significant affect it has on all of our border economies is a fundamental part of our lives. We have seen the impact of the last several months has had on our border trade, on our commerce and obviously on each of our lives.”
Treviño added: “Binational trade supports millions of jobs in North America and, God willing, will continue to do so in accordance with the renegotiated USMCA. In the last 25 years, trade between the United States and Mexico has more than quadrupled. This is a testament to the hard work of individuals such as all of you participating in this webinar today.”
Here is a podcast of the Ken Roberts/WorldCity webinar:
Editor's Note: Ken Roberts can be reached at: info@worldcityweb.com
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