Live Webcast August 8:The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Future of International Trade

The Program on America and the Global Economy(PAGE), the Asia Program, the Canada Institute, the Kissinger Institute, the Latin American Program (LAP) and the Mexico Institute with the Support of Wilson Center Senior Scholar William Krist Presents:

 The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the

Future of International Trade

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

2:00 – 5:00 pm

2:00 pm – 2:40 pm KEYNOTE:  Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

2:50 pm – 3:50 pm PANEL 1: New and Future Participants
Canada: Laura Dawson, President of Dawson Strategic and a Former Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
China: Jeff Schott, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Japan: Edward Lincoln, Professor, George Washington University
Mexico: Luz Maria De La Mora Sanchez, Professor of CIDE, former Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
Moderator: Kent Hughes – Program on America and the Global Economy

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm PANEL 2: Key U.S. Interests
Jim Grueff, Trade Consultant and former trade negotiator for the Foreign Agricultural Service
Linda Menghetti, Vice President, Emergency Committee for American Trade
Celeste Drake, Trade Policy Specialist, AFL-CIO
Stephanie Burgos, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam America
Moderator: Kent Hughes – Program on America and the Global Economy

Watch the live webcast here.
Posted by: PAGE Staff

The End of Mexican Immigration and Questions for the US Labor Market

In 1970 there were approximately 1 million Mexican-born immigrants living in the United States.  Today there are more than 12 million.  This is, by far, the largest influx of immigrants from a single country into the United States in history.  Some 30% of all current US immigrants were born in Mexico.  But a new Pew Hispanic Center report indicates that the net migration from Mexico has fallen to essentially zero.  Between 2005 and 2010, the wave of Mexican immigrants, legal and illegal, into the U.S. was offset by an equal number of Mexican migrants returning home (approximately 1.4 million in each direction). The low number of immigrants and high number of those returning are both unprecedented.

The proposed explanations for this trend vary from stepped up enforcement to a poor labor market in the US (along with an improved one in Mexico) but whatever the reason, it is reasonable to assume that if the trend becomes permanent, there will be significant consequences for the economies of both countries.

Mexican labor has been the linchpin of US-Mexican economic integration.  Mexican immigrants make up at least 25% of the labor force in seven states, including California, Texas, Florida, and New York.  In 36 states, they constitute at least 5% of the work force.  Mexican immigrants are more likely to come to this country younger, with less education, with poorer English ability, and less occupational skills than immigrants from other countries and thus have tended to populate low-skill, low-paying jobs.

While recent data is hard to come by, in 2000 Mexican immigrants made up 15% of the workforce in the agricultural industry and close to 10% in both the manufacturing and construction industries.  Specific areas such as landscaping, car washes, and fruit and vegetable production were over 20%.  Mexican workers became increasingly important in locations throughout the nation not previously known for large immigrant populations in the last decade, particularly the Southeast, as they were called upon to fill these low skill jobs, especially in agriculture.  And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 63 percent of all job openings by 2020 will require only a minimal education (high school or less), at a time when native-born Americans are obtaining college degrees in record numbers and are unlikely to accept positions requiring minimal education, making low skill service workers a valuable labor commodity.

It remains to be seen if and how these two trends, the decline of Mexican migration to the US and a reliance on Mexican labor for certain positions and even entire industries, will affect the American labor market, economic output, and North American integration more generally.

Posted by: Sean Norris

Sources: The Pew Hispanic Center, The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Canadian Foundation for the Americas, The American Immigration Law Foundation

Photo Credit: USA Mexico Arizona courtesy of flickr user kreyten

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Watch Live TODAY–Mexico and the G-20 Leader’s Summit in Los Cabos

The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute and Program on America and the Global Economy cordially invite you to a public discussion on:

 Mexico and the G-20 

Leader’s Summit in Los Cabos

 

Mexico currently holds the presidency of the G-20 and will be hosting the Leader’s Summit this June. While Mexico has identified several priority issues, ranging from the strengthening the global financial architecture to promoting sustainable development and financial inclusion, the eurozone crisis continues to demand a great deal of attention. Please join us to discuss Mexico’s particular approach to the G-20 presidency and the major issues on the agenda for the Los Cabos meeting.

……………………………………….

Tuesday, May 1^st, 2012

2:45 pm to 4:45 pm

5^th Floor Conference Room

 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

……………………………………….

 With:

Keynote Speaker: Gerardo Rodríguez Regordosa, Undersecretary, Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit

Mark Sobel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Monetary and Financial Policy, U.S. Treasury

Arturo Sarukhan, Ambassador of Mexico to the United States

Andrés Rozental, President, Rozental & Asociados, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Colin Bradford, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Moderated by: John Sewell, Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center

The live webcast can be viewed here.

Posted by: PAGE Staff