Is there a point in there somewhere?
Task Force Members included
HEIDI S. CRUZ is an energy investment banker with Merrill Lynch in Houston, Texas. She served in the Bush White House under Dr. Condoleezza Rice as the Economic Director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council, as the Director of the Latin America Office at the U.S. Treasury Department, and as Special Assistant to Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative. Prior to government service, Ms. Cruz was an investment banker with J.P. Morgan in New York City.
proposals translated:
In this period of political transition in Canada and Mexico, the Task Force proposes new ideas to cope with continental issues that should bring the debate in both countries, and the United States. To guarantee freedom, security, justice and prosperity of North America, the Working Group proposes specific measures:
Enhance the security of North America
Establish a common security perimeter in 2010.
Develop a system of passes with North American biometric identifiers.
Develop a unified border action plan and expand customs facilities.
Create a single economic space:
Adopt a common external tariff.
Allow free movement of goods within North America.
Go to full mobility of labor between Canada and the US Develop a North American energy strategy more focused on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases - a regional alternative to Kyoto.
Review the sectors of NAFTA that were excluded.
Develop and implement a North American regulatory plan that would include exchanges' open skies and free movement "and a unified approach to protect consumers on diet plans, health and the environment.
Expand temporary worker programs and create a "North American preference" for immigration to US citizens.
More equitable distribution of benefits:
Establish Investors North American investments to build the infrastructure linking the poorest regions of Southern Mexico to Northern markets. Restructure and consolidate the public finances of Mexico.
Fully develop Mexican energy resources to better use technology and international capital.
Institutionalize the partnership:
Establish a permanent tribunal for trade disputes and investments.
Convene a meeting at the annual North American summit.
Establish a tri-national Competition Commission to develop a common approach to trade remedies.
Expand scholarship programs in the three countries and establish a network of centers for North American studies.
Ms. Heidi S. Cruz
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.