During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Thursday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) spoke about Mexico's compliance with USMCA terms.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'll call on Senator Scott.
00:02Right.
00:03Ambassador Johnson, given the current U.S.-Mexico relations, why do you want to serve in Mexico
00:08and how do you intend to manage that relationship while representing America's best interest?
00:14Thank you for the question, Senator.
00:17I think it's a time for opportunity.
00:19I think the relationship between Mexico and the United States is poised and ready to launch
00:28forward in a way that will guarantee more security for Mexican citizens and U.S. citizens
00:34and also help improve the economies in both countries.
00:39I'm particularly interested in working on increasing the current trade relationship
00:45that we have, which is the number one trade relationship that we have with anyone right
00:49now.
00:51And I think looking at some of the opportunities inside Mexico, I was looking, for example,
00:56at the microprocessor design and assembly and testing and packaging.
01:03Right now, most of those are designed in the United States.
01:07They're tested and packaged and assembled mostly in Asia, in China, in Taiwan, but also
01:15in other Asian countries.
01:17And I think there's an opportunity before us to look at moving that assembly, testing
01:23and packaging to places in Mexico that still provide labor that's perhaps less expensive
01:30than labor would be here in the United States, because it's very labor intensive.
01:35But I think Mexico recognizes the fact that that's an opportunity for them to economically
01:42move forward, and I'm encouraged that President Shane Baum has also said she places a higher
01:49priority on the economic relationship with the United States than she does with China,
01:54which is purely logical.
01:55But I think there's numerous estimates that both economies and the United States and Mexico
02:03could grow significantly by increasing the economic and trade relationship, and that
02:10would be one of the focuses in addition to stopping the drugs and illegal immigration
02:14flows.
02:15So, sir, I'm excited about being there.
02:17I think it is a time to make a difference in the world, and that's what I've always
02:23tried to do throughout my career, is just be a positive force.
02:28So, Florida farmers have seen that Mexico completely disregarded parts of the USMCA.
02:35So they've dumped, especially our specialty crop, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries,
02:41they've just dumped on our markets.
02:43So can you speak to how you're going to hold Mexico accountable for complying with all
02:47of the USMCA, ensuring the relationship benefits both countries, not just Mexico?
02:54Thank you for the follow-up, sir, and I appreciate the time we spent together in your office
02:58the other day to discuss that issue.
03:00I was not fully aware of the issues that Florida farmers face.
03:07I am now.
03:09I'm encouraged by the fact that the official review of the USMCA occurs in 26.
03:17That said, I expect to be deeply involved from the time I arrive in Mexico in helping
03:23to ensure that Mexico understands all of its obligations, not just the obligations on trade,
03:29but all the obligations that they've made in various treaties, to include the water
03:33treaty with Texas, and obligations they've made to help us secure the border and stop
03:39the flow of fentanyl.
03:41So I think key to that is establishing a good dialogue and working relationship across the
03:46entire Mexican government, and I plan to do that.
03:48Ambassador Glass, I think all of us realize the importance of a relationship with Japan.
03:53We've got a lot of servicemen and women over there.
03:54Can you talk about how you're going to make sure that we continue to have a positive relationship
04:01between our servicemen and women and the people of Japan?
04:08Thank you for the question, Senator.
04:10Without a doubt, I have a little bit of a different situation than the two gentlemen
04:14on my sides.
04:15The relationship between the United States and Japan is at an apex.
04:21It's at an all-time high.
04:22And demonstrated on February 7th with the President and the Prime Minister, where discussions
04:30went on on everything from security to economics.
04:34We currently have 60,000 troops that are located, or brave men and women that are located in
04:40Japan.
04:41We have the most sophisticated weaponry.
04:44We have a carrier group.
04:49And the cooperation that goes on between the two is at a level that actually is probably
04:56one of the biggest challenges is to make that level better.
05:00We have currently a backlog of over $50 billion of items and materials and planes that are
05:07being ordered from Japan from the United States.
05:10We've got to work that backlog through.
05:12That is an issue.
05:14We're actually working on co-production of some of those items with the Japanese moving
05:19forwards.
05:20So it is clearly the highest priority that we have is to continue the closeness of this
05:26relationship from everything from security to economics.