U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) met with government and business leaders in Mexico last week to promote trade between the two countries in an effort to improve U.S. competitiveness and create jobs.
The United States has strong economic ties with Mexico through the North American Free Trade Agreement and Texas and Arizona businesses have benefited from that.
“As the Representative of several border communities, and the largest stretch of U.S.-Mexico border in Congress, I recognize the unique relationship the United States, and Texas, shares with Mexico,” Hurd said. “I have made it a priority since being elected to foster understanding with my colleagues in Washington and to increase economic opportunity on both sides of the border.”
Texas exported more than $92 billion in goods and services to Mexico in 2015, making Mexico by far the state’s largest trading partner. Goods exported from Texas to Mexico support more than 1 million U.S. jobs, according to the International Trade Administration.
While visiting Mexico City earlier this week, Hurd met with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson to discuss U.S. priorities in Mexico and border security. Cross-border trade and security was also the topic of discussion between Flake and Mexico’s Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu. The senator’s meeting with Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo focused on improving trade between Arizona and Mexico.
Hurd also promoted energy security by attending the Greater Houston Partnership Energy Business Forum to highlight the need to strengthen the energy partnership between Mexico and the United States.
“As continued energy exploration yields new discoveries, our access to Mexican markets is critical to the Texas economy and a key step in achieving North American energy security,” Hurd said.
Energy production in Hurd’s district in Texas is poised to increase after an assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey found enormous amounts of shale oil reserves in the Permian Basin that stretches across west Texas. The estimate for 20 billion barrels of oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp shale is the largest estimate of continuous oil ever assessed in the United States.