By Roger Runningen and Nicholas Johnston
Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama leaves today for a summit with his counterparts from Mexico and Canada as all three nations brace for a rebound of the deadly H1N1 swine flu, which may threaten cross-border commerce.
The two-day meeting in Guadalajara among Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is to include talks on easing trade friction, dealing with the recession, battling drug crime and paving the way for climate talks later this year. A pressing topic is the return of the pandemic flu, which emerged in Mexico earlier this year.
“Everybody recognizes that H1N1 is going to be a challenge for all of us and there are going to be people getting sick in the fall and die,” John Brennan, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said.
Officials are concerned that a widespread outbreak of the H1N1 virus as the regular flu season gets under way in the Northern Hemisphere’s fall may disrupt airline schedules and slow cross-border imports and exports.
All three countries still are being battered by the recession, and economics defines the relationship among them. Canada and Mexico are the U.S.’s first- and third-largest trading partners, generating more than $950 billion of imports and exports last year. Canada and Mexico account for 28 percent of all U.S. trade.
Common Strategy
At the North American Leaders Summit, Obama, 48, Calderon, 46, and Harper, 50, will focus on joint strategies for coordinating medical information, stockpiling vaccines and reviewing distribution plans to “minimize the impact and severity,” Brennan said at an Aug. 6 White House briefing.
