U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Canadian and Mexican leaders at the White House on Thursday (November 18) for their first North American summit in five years, a meeting aimed at revitalizing regional cooperation but shadowed by economic tensions.
Biden met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before sitting down Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The talks are aimed at finding common ground among the three neighbors bound together by the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement, which governs some $1.5 trillion in North American trade annually.
While major breakthroughs could be hard to come by, Biden hopes to make headway on some of the thorniest challenges with America's two biggest neighbors, including easing immigration pressures, reducing trade friction, recovering from the global pandemic and competing better with China.
Resetting ties with Mexico and Canada is also part of Biden's effort to turn the page on the Trump era, shifting away from his predecessor's strident go-it-alone approach to a more collaborative style.