At the 47th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, Canada's Minister of Foreign Trade François-Philippe Champagne made the case for a progressive trade agenda that benefits all sectors of society. He also addressed recent U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber and said that his country will defend its lumber industry as it looks for other export destination markets.

Speakers:

• Audrae Erickson, Vice President, External Affairs and Corporate Communications, Mead Johnson Nutrition
• Amgad Shehata, Vice President, Strategic Development, Latin America, UPS
• Veso Sobot, Director, Corporate Affairs, IPEX
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (moderator)

Representatives of the private sector working in North America discussed the importance of international supply chains and agriculture trade happening in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The panelists analyzed how competitive the United States and North America are in the global economy because of preferences coming from the North American Free Trade Agreement and the implications in changing terms for the trade bloc.

Watch the event's first panel with public sector experts discussing the terms and impact of the trade accord.

Speakers:

• Gilles Gauthier, Economic Affairs Minister, Embassy of Canada
• Warren Maruyama, Partner, Hogan Lovells; Former General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
• Charles Roh, Former U.S. Deputy Chief Negotiator for NAFTA
• Kenneth Smith Ramos, Director, Trade & NAFTA Office, Embassy of Mexico
• Wendy Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute (moderator)

Experts and policy developers who work with Mexico, Canada, and the United States discussed the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the potential changes in the trade agreement, and how these negotiations can affect global trade and Asia.

Watch the second panel with private sector representatives at the event held by the Council of the Americas and the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington, DC.