Obama, Trudeau, Peña Nieto emphasize unity at North American Leaders' Summit

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 29 June 2016

In the first North American Leaders' Summit hosted in Canada in over a decade, President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto underscored the importance of North American unity in their pledges to better fight climate change and emphasize free trade. "The politics of trade is difficult," Obama said, seemingly alluding to both Donald Trump's anti-globalization rhetoric of late and the recent Brexit vote. However, he continued, countries must not "shut ourselves off from the world." Regarding climate change, the leaders announced a goal to produce half of North America's power from renewable sources by 2025.

Changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement rule of origin were also unveiled, which will further free up trade by loosening criteria for a variety of products, including "pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, rubber, metals, industrial and electrical machinery, precision instruments, and natural gas," Bloomberg reports.