(1) 

		Linkages with the United States

Sharing a 2,000-mile border and extensive interconnections through the Gulf of Mexico, theUnited States and Mexico are so intricately linked together in an enormous number of ways thatPresident George W. Bush and other U.S. officials have stated that no country is more important tothe United States than Mexico. At the same time, Mexican President Vicente Fox (2000-2006), thefirst president to be elected from an opposition party in 71 years, has sought to strengthen thebilateral relationship through what some have called a "grand bargain." (2) Under this proposed bargain,the United States would regularize the status of undocumented Mexican workers in the United Statesand economically assist the less developed partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) while Mexico would be more cooperative in border security and in controlling the illegaltraffic of drugs, people, and goods into the United States. Mexico is linked with the United States through trade and investment, migration and tourism,environment and health concerns, and family and cultural relationships. Mexico is the second mostimportant trading partner of the United States, and this trade is critical to many U.S. industries andborder communities. It also is the principal transit or source country for illicit drugs andit is a possible avenue for the entry of terrorists into the United States. As a result, cooperation withMexico is essential in dealing with migration, drug trafficking, and border, terrorism, health,environment, and energy issues. Mechanisms for Mexico-United States Interactions

The United States and Mexico have developed a variety of mechanisms for consultation andcooperation on the wide variety of issues on which they interact, with some overlapping in thefunctioning of the various fora. Grouped together to some extent by function and longevity, thesemechanisms include (1) periodic presidential meetings; (2) annual cabinet-level BinationalCommission meetings with 10 Working Groups; (3) annual meetings of congressional delegationsin the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group Conferences; (4) NAFTA-related trilateralmeetings under various groups; (5) bilateral border area cooperation meetings hosted by such entitiesas the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the United States-Mexico BorderHealth Commission; and (6) trilateral meetings under the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)of North America, launched in March 2005.
This report provides information on the importance of Mexico to U.S. interests andcatalogues the many ways Mexico and the United States interact. The report is a snapshot of thebilateral relationship at the beginning of 2006. It will not be updated on a regular basis.
Sharing a 2,000-mile border and extensive interconnections through the Gulf of Mexico, theUnited States and Mexico are so intricately linked together in an enormous multiplicity of ways thatPresident George W. Bush and other U.S. officials have stated that no country is more important tothe United States than Mexico. At the same time, Mexican President Vicente Fox (2000-2006), thefirst president to be elected from an opposition party in 71 years, has sought to strengthen therelationship with the United States through what some have called a "grand bargain." Under thisproposed bargain, the United States would regularize the status of undocumented Mexican workersin the United States and economically assist the less developed partner in the North American FreeTrade Agreement (NAFTA), while Mexico would be more cooperative in efforts to control theillegal traffic of drugs, people, and goods into the United States.
The southern neighbor is linked with the United States through trade and investment,migration and tourism, environment and health concerns, and family and cultural relationships. Itis the second most important trading partner of the United States, and this trade is critical to manyU.S. industries and border communities. It is a major source of undocumented migrants and illicitdrugs and a possible avenue for the entry of terrorists into the United States. As a result, cooperationwith Mexico is essential to deal effectively with migration, drug trafficking, and border, terrorism,health, environment, and energy issues.
The United States and Mexico have developed a wide variety of mechanisms for consultationand cooperation on the range of issues in which the countries interact. These include (1) periodicalpresidential meetings; (2) annual cabinet-level Binational Commission meetings with 10 WorkingGroups on major issues; (3) annual meetings of congressional delegations in the Mexico-UnitedStates Interparliamentary Group Conferences; (4) NAFTA-related trilateral trade meetings undervarious groups; (5) regular meetings of the Attorneys General and the Senior Law EnforcementPlenary to deal with law enforcement and counter-narcotics matters; (6) a wide variety of bilateralborder area cooperation meetings dealing with environment, health, transportation, and bordercrossing issues; and (7) trilateral meetings under the "Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) ofNorth America" launched in Waco, Texas, in March 2005.