Harnessing New Investments In Industrial Policy To Advance North American Competitiveness

Introduction

Following the severe economic and societal disruptions stemming from the global Covid-19 pandemic, many countries vowed to ‘build back better’ to ensure greater supply chain resilience moving forward. This imperative took on new urgency as armed conflicts in Ukraine, the middle east and the Red Sea have strained global trade routes and the strength of those supply chains. Ongoing US-China rivalry has added further stress, with trading partners on both sides working to safeguard their supply chains, from raw materials to intermediate components and finished goods.

One response to this increasingly challenging global trading context is a return to regionalization. Nearshoring is gaining traction, the trend to reduce geographic distance, uncertainty, transportation costs and carbon emissions in supply chains. Other trends include friendshoring and ally-shoring, terms used to describe the linked concepts of deepening trade ties between countries that may not be geographically close, but which share common values including a commitment to democracy, human rights, and strong environmental and labor standards.

In this context, the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) with support from the Future Borders coalition, George W. Bush Institute and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), convened a working group to focus on key topics in North American competitiveness. Led by co-chairs Shannon O’Neil (USA), Luz María de la Mora (Mexico) and Louise Blais (Canada), more than two-dozen experts from academic institutions, the private sector, and former government officials gathered to address key themes and issues facing the North American economy. Eight meetings took place over 10 months in 2023, and a series of research papers were drafted to explore specific aspects of the group’s agenda (see complete list of participants and associated publications). 

This report summarizes the key themes and outcomes of those meetings and research papers, and offers recommendations to move North America forward as a more integrated region that can compete internationally in the 21st Century.

To read the full report as it was published by the Institute of the Americas, click here.

To read the report PDF, click here.