Op-ed that I co-drafted cited in this article: Sacks of flour from a World Food Program convoy were unloaded in Afghanistan in October. The Treasury Department will make it easier for international organizations and the U.S. government to provide relief to Afghans while maintaining economic pressure on the Taliban.

The Treasury Department and the United Nations offered new protection for aid from sanctions meant to pressure the Taliban.

“We don’t want to help the Taliban, but we don’t want to see Afghans starving in the winter either,” said Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), who helped to spearhead the effort. “We want the millions of Afghans who are not going to leave the country, but who are trying to defend the gains of the last 20 years, to know that the United States is still behind them.”

But a growing number of administration officials, particularly in the U.S. State Department, are pushing for more flexibility, with some ar

House lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to prioritize assistance to Afghanistan in the face of a crippling economic and humanitarian crisis facing the country.

“No one benefits from a failed state in Afghanistan,” a bipartisan group of 39 lawmakers wrote on Thursday, in a letter to the State and Treasury departments, calling for the release of Afghan assets — which amount to an estimated $9.5 billion — that were frozen in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country in Augu

Earl Anthony (Tony) Wayne says there should be action by the US and others to get money to #Afghans in need to meet the #humanitarian needs and recognizing that that means there needs to be channels where money can be sent in and in and distributed accurately. We need more leadership by US and others to encourage to go ahead and try these new methods. All the time preserving the sanctions on the Taliban that deserve to remain in place because of their previous behavior and their unwillingness to have a truly inclusive government.”

Private conversations and public event on workforce development

Annual Report of the Mexico Institute's Activities including many publications I wrote and meetings that I chaired.

Happy to strongly endorse and join in this statement as a member of the AAD Board

Invited to talk about US-Mexico Relations to the Traverse City International Affairs Committee

Biden’s electric vehicle plans spark outrage in Mexico and Canada
US trading partners insist that EV incentives breach terms of USMCA pact
Aime Williams and Christine Murray
Joe Biden will meet the leaders of Mexico and Canada this week as his plans to encourage Americans to buy electric cars made in the US have sparked furious opposition from two of America’s biggest trading partners.
The so-called three amigos summit, to be held at the White House, will take place for the first time since 2016, and comes as senior officials in Mexico City and Ottawa have complained that Biden’s plans to kickstart EV manufacturing in the US break international trade rules.
The opposition of some of the US’s closest allies to a flagship climate policy poses a political and diplomatic dilemma for Biden. The president has pledged to both lower tensions with trading partners following the tumultuous tenure of Donald Trump, and to use industrial policy to boost green industries like electric car manufacturing.
Although not yet passed into law, Biden’s broader $1.75tn legislative package contains proposals to offer a tax credit of $7,500 for electric vehicles made only in the US from 2026. Another $4,500 of tax credits are available for purchasing electric cars made with union labour.
On Friday, Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, said she had raised the issue in a meeting with Antony Blinken, US secretary of state.
Mary Ng, Canada’s trade minister, has previously written to the Democratic and Republican leaders and to Katherine Tai, US trade representative, and Gina Raimondo, US commerce secretary, to convey Ottawa’s “very serious concerns” about the EV credits.
Ng’s office said that Washington’s proposed measures were “inconsistent” both with its obligations under USMCA, the updated North American trade deal struck between the three countries under Donald Trump, and with the rules of the World Trade Organization.
Tatiana Clouthier, Mexico’s economy minister, has sent her own letters to US legislators to ask that the proposals be altered to be brought in line with USMCA.
“It’s contradictory,” Clouthier said. “They would set off more [migration] with this kind of measure.”
Tai refused to be drawn this week on whether the US proposals contravened the USMCA trade agreement that she helped broker as the Democrats’ chief trade counsel in the House of Representatives.
“I’m aware of concerns that our trading partners have raised, and we care about these concerns,” she said.
Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the growing dispute between the three nations was “a big deal”.
“Everybody is moving at warp speed towards electric vehicles, and auto companies are now deciding where to locate their electric vehicle factories,” Alden said.
“This tax credit gives pretty strong incentives to locate final assembly in the United States so, not surprisingly, the Canadians and Mexicans are deeply worried about it.”
At present, the North American motor industry supply chain is scattered across all three countries. According to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service, some car parts cross the US, Mexican and Canadian borders “seven or eight times” before they are assembled into the final vehicle.
The US imports $29.4bn of car parts from Mexico and exports $5.9bn of parts to Canada, while exporting $11.7bn of completed vehicles to Canada and $67.5bn to Mexico. The CRS says that vehicle parts exported to Canada and Mexico often return to the US to be incorporated into the finished vehicles.
“It’s important to remember that the auto industry is the most quintessential North American, USMCA or Nafta industry,” said Tony Wayne, a former US ambassador to Mexico, referring to USMCA’s predecessor trade deal. “It’s more integrated than any other industry.”
Canada has suggested that US threats to rupture the motor industry’s integration at this time might backfire on the US.
Ng’s letter reminded US officials that Canada was “the only country” in the western hemisphere to have stores of all of the critical minerals needed to build an electric vehicle battery, and that Canada was therefore “necessary for the United States to achieve its electric vehicle objectives in the future”.
Mexico’s lower labour costs have long attracted carmakers, but sector leaders are already worried that it may not be able to attract a renewed investment boom in the shift to EVs. ...

Talk on US-Mexico Relations

As part of a series of meetings that began in 2016. Rohullah Osmani and I have hosted groups of experts to discuss Afghanistan every 6 weeks or so. This private meeting was co-hosted by the Wilson Center.

I had the honor to deliver a talk to a masters program on national security via internet discussing US-Mexico relations.

Event Recap: A Vision For A Stronger U.S.-Mexico Partnership: Emerging Opportunities In The Automotive Industry Virtual Roundtable

On Nov. 5, 2021, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, in collaboration with the U.S.-Mexico Foundation (USMF), hosted a virtual roundtable to discuss further integration within the auto industry in the U.S. and Mexico. The event brought together accomplished diplomats, industry leaders and analysts to share their perspectives on trends and opportunities for players in both countries.

For decades, the U.S.-Mexico automotive supply chain has been deeply unified, collectively manufacturing around 20 percent of the world’s passenger cars and commercial vehicles. At the same time, the automotive sector is undergoing a profound transformation, fueled by technological innovations, sustainability efforts and supply chain concerns.

During the virtual roundtable, two interrelated, consecutive panel discussions focused on these shifts and how both sides of the border can leverage them in the context of an enhanced U.S.–Mexico partnership.

Panel 1, “U.S.-Mexico Automotive Supply Chain Resilience: Trends and Opportunities,” put a spotlight on emerging opportunities for co-production and manufacturing of products, services and technologies, which have the potential to catalyze further economic growth in the U.S. and Mexico. It was moderated by Francine LaFontaine, Interim Dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and the panel consisted of:

Gerónimo Gutiérrez, former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S.
Earl Anthony Wayne, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
Sarah Cartmell, Manager of Global Government Relations, Ford Motor Company
Oscar Dominguez, President of Lear Mexico Operations

Discussing his role in the final negotiations with the Taliban and the Kabul government and next steps in a private conversation at the Wilson Center

Discussed Range of US-Mexico Relations with a focus on Migration

Happy to Join North American Development Bank Managing Director Calixto Mateos, IBC Bank Gerry Schwebel and Kathy Neal of Regal Rexnord Corporation to talk about US-Mexico border infrastructure at the 13th North America Strategic Leadership Forum, https://www.cg-la.com/forums/nalf13

The event is available to watch at: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nhtd6x7n4pc1tc97k8vm6/Building-the-Manufacturing-Corridor-on-the-US-Mexico-Border.mp4?dl=0&oref=e&r=ABgG59b6h8iDQDX_Q-KagOdG5z7_2i3wCuTEj0ZNJm38zpv8F09NI_Kq_kAJCa5wvMa29mKs-sok0BjAQMrC_8OG3QYvpgRb_-Sgk5ScFFiiOQ2Q2yYEb3FvE6Fxv6kRmzQDegL7MzZav2l9jxGVRWbKmHGoecDGJzjBhCOTIDa0rR2f7CSiGcW-IdkZPBFI0qo24AsdXktiLsNhmig6I8SP&sm=1