26 Mar Friends of COSTEP Meeting Focuses on Uncertain, Chaotic, and Fast-Changing Tariff Situation
“What I tell you now, may not matter in 24 hours,” Dr. Daniel Covarrubias, Texas A&M International University, gave an informative presentation at the Friends of COSTEP Quarterly Meeting on the current uncertain, chaotic, and fast-changing tariff situation to an audience representing education, workforce development, economic development, and the business community on both sides of the border.
Entitled “Thirty Years of Integration at a Crossroads,” Dr. Covarrubias presented on current challenges, proposed a strategic framework, implementation mechanisms, and shared a vision for North American trade relationships. The growth of North American Trade over the last 30 years has grown to approximately $1.6 trillion. Dr. Covarrubias stated that while this indicated a very positive state of affairs, there is always room for improvement. He shared with the audience his version of a USMCA 2.0, which included enhanced security cooperation, trilateral industrial policy, and technology progression. Beyond that, he went into detail about a potential Binational Customs Agency, a vision for US-Mexico joint customs operations, which calls for a unified approach incorporating digital transformation and cybersecurity. He also advocated for the business sector to have a voice through the development of a North American Industrial Council.
Dr. Daniel Covarrubias is the Director of the Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development at the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU). The essential purpose of the Texas Center is to provide support to private and public entities with research, knowledge, information, and assistance in border and binational socio-economic development efforts. Dr. Covarrubias completed his Ph.D. in Business Competitiveness and Economic Development from Deusto Business School in Spain and holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from TAMIU, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Monterrey Tec.
COSTEP, Council for South Texas Economic Progress, is a nongovernmental organization advocating regional economic development and rio grande trade for the seven-county region of Rio South Texas. Servicing the counties of Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Jim Hogg, Zapata, and Webb. COSTEP focuses on business recruitment services and provides regional market data to host site selector tours, regional familiarization tours, and area economic development enrichment sessions. To learn more about how you can support our work visit COSTEP.org or contact Adam Gonzalez at agonzalez@costep.org.
COSTEP would like to thank our community stakeholders for joining us. Special thanks to our sponsors, whose support makes events like these possible.