The following is from the 17 November 2010 edition of the "American Shipper".

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Tuesday hosted a trilateral meeting of North American Industry Ministers with Canada’s Minister of Industry Tony Clement and Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Bruno Ferrari.

The officials discussed North American economic competitiveness and deeper trilatera cooperation on trade and economic issues, including implementation of President Obama’s National Export Initiative and ways Canada, Mexico, and the United States can better cooperate on industry and sector integration as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“Canada, the United States, and Mexico have a sophisticated and robust trade relationship because of NAFTA,” Locke said in a statement. “Because our businesses already cooperate in the production of goods and delivery of services, we must work together to develop strategies that will benefit these businesses and the workers of this region.”

The three leaders also pledged to identify ways to encourage small and medium-sized firms to export their goods and services, enabling them to expand their business operations.

In 2009, trilateral trade among the NAFTA partners totaled more than $735 billion, an increase of 148 percent since the year before NAFTA’s implementation.