The Deputy Trade Ministers of the three NAFTA Partners met in Tucson, Arizona, on March 19, 2003, at the new headquarters of the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade. Attendees included Ambassador Peter Allgeier, Deputy United States Trade Representative; Len Edwards, Canadian Deputy Minister for International Trade; and Angel Villalobos, Mexican Undersecretary of Economy, who met to discuss issues related to the implementation of the NAFTA Agreement and trilateral cooperation in other trade negotiations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The NAFTA partners typically hold three senior level meetings per year, one at the ministerial level, and two at the deputy level. This is the first time that the NAFTA Deputies meeting has been held in Arizona, and only the second time that the United States has hosted a Deputies meeting outside of Washington, D.C.

NLCIFT Director Boris Kozolchyk, Tucson Mayor Robert Walkup, Canadian Deputy Minister for International Trade Len Edwards, Deputy United States Trade Representative Ambassador Peter Allgeier, Mexican Undersecretary of Economy Angel Villalobos, and NLCIFT Associate Director David Gantz

Listen to the discussion forum held during the meeting of the NAFTA Deputy Trade Ministers, at the offices of the National Law Center.