Quality of life gap between U.S. & Mexican border communities decreased between 2000 & 2010 – #MexFacts

To learn more, join us TOMORROW, Thursday, May 23 beginning at 3:30pm (EDT) for the launch of “The State of the Border Report.”

Live webcast: http://bit.ly/StateofBorder

Barclays: US gas exports to Mexico will accelerate

Oil & Gas Journal, 5/21/2013

As the US debates exporting more plentiful natural gas from new liquefaction along the East and Gulf coasts, gas exports to Mexico in the past 3 years have doubled, according to a recent research note from Barclays. Over the same period, natural gas production in Mexico has declined 11% with associated gas production on the rise, while nonassociated gas is declining, Barclays analyst Biliana Pehlivanova said in the research note.

Barclays expects US exports to Mexico to continue growing robustly, averaging 2 bcfd in 2013 and 2.2 bcfd in 2014. Growth is likely to accelerate beyond 2014, as more cross-border and Mexican pipeline capacity comes into operation. Growth of Mexican gas demand and pipeline capacity expansions promise to “siphon increasing amounts of gas from the US,” Pehlivanova noted.

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US isn’t respecting meat labeling rules, Mexico says

Reuters, 5/21/2013

The United States is not respecting a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on meat labeling, Mexico’s Agriculture Minister Enrique Martinez said on Tuesday, saying it was hurting local industry. The WTO ruled in late June last year that a U.S. program for labeling imported meat unfairly discriminated against Mexico and Canada, putting pressure on the United States to bring the scheme in line with global country-of-origin meat-labeling rules.

“We can’t understand why once the very WTO … issues a ruling, the government of the United States does not respect it,” Martinez said. “We have talked with beef producers in the United States and Canada, and totally agree this is an arbitrary decision and means discrimination against Mexican beef, which we will never agree with and as a government will defend against.”

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Long & unpredictable border wait times cost billions of dollars a year – #MexFacts

Interested in learning more about “The State of the Border”?Join us this Thursday, May 23 starting at 3:30pm (EDT): http://bit.ly/StateofBorder

U.S.-Mexico trade grew from $71 billion in 1995 to $255 billion in 2010 – #MexFacts

Interested in learning more about “The State of the Border”?

Join us Thursday, May 23, 2013 starting at 3:30pm:

http://bit.ly/StateofBorder

Border Cities Demonstrate Importance Of U.S.-Mexico Relations

VOXXI, 5/19/2013

For those who live along the U.S.-Mexico border, especially in large cities, the relationship between the two countries is different than for those who live elsewhere in the U.S. It’s difficult for those outside this area to understand, because despite the line that legally separates the two countries, the people both north and south of it, are neighbors. They depend on each other for economic vibrancy, personal relationships and cultural attachment. In spite of the backlash against illegal immigration and the fear of out-of-control drug violence along the Mexican side of the border, border cities in the U.S. have a unique relationship with their neighbor to the south.

Recently, San Diego’s Mayor Bob Filner looked across the border to Tijuana as a new business partner. For him, as for most of the politicians in the San Diego area, it’s not about “us versus them.” It’s about all of us. Together. According to a recent New York Times article, Filner has opened a satellite office in Tijuana. He also says he plans to place a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics to be hosted jointly with Tijuana. When either Filner or the Mayor of Tijuana, Carlos Bustamante, refer to the area, they speak of us—not of “us and them.”

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Mexico Aims to Triple Natural Gas Imports from U.S.

The Wall Street Journal, 5/16/2013

The construction of a natural gas pipeline from southern Texas to central Mexico will allow for a tripling of imports from the U.S. to meet increasing demand from industry, an official from Petroleos Mexicanos has said. Alejandro Martinez Sibaja, the director of the state-owned company’s gas division, said that Mexican industry is currently hampered by its reliance on more expensive fuels because of the lack of pipeline capacity for natural gas to come across the border.

“The lack of gas means that our industries are having to burn fuel oil,” which is currently about three times as expensive as natural gas, Mr. Martinez said in an interview on Wednesday. “A lot of investment is looking to come to Mexico, so we have to respond by providing natural gas as part of our offer to get these companies to come.” The gas supply problem is expected to be alleviated with the Los Ramones project, a pipeline that Mr. Martinez said will carry around 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2015 from southern Texas to the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, which is a hub for the Mexican auto industry.

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The U.S., Mexico And The Decline Of The Colorado River

Forbes, 5/14/2013

An amendment to a standing water treaty between the United States and Mexico has received publicity over the past six months as an example of progress in water sharing agreements. But the amendment, called Minute 319, is simply a glimpse into ongoing mismanagement of the Colorado River on the U.S. side of the border. Over-allocation of the river’s waters 90 years ago combined with increasing populations and economic growth in the river basin have created circumstances in which conservation efforts — no matter how organized — could be too little to overcome the projected water deficit that the Colorado River Basin will face in the next 20 years.

In 1922, the seven U.S. states in the Colorado River Basin established a compact to distribute the resources of the river. A border between the Upper and Lower basins was defined at Lees Ferry, Ariz. The Upper Basin (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico) was allocated 9.25 billion cubic meters a year, and the Lower Basin (Arizona, California and Nevada) was allotted 10.45 billion cubic meters. Mexico was allowed an unspecified amount, which in 1944 was defined as 1.85 billion cubic meters a year. The Upper and Lower basins — managed as separate organizations under the supervision of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — divided their allocated water among the states in their jurisdictions. Numerous disputes arose, especially in the Lower Basin, regarding proper division of the water resources. But the use of (and disputes over) the Colorado River began long before these treaties.

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#DidYouKnow – Immigrants & the U.S. Labor Force

Our friends at Americas Society/Council of the Americas compiled the following facts about immigrants and the U.S. labor force.

Click here to view the full fact sheet...

Pew: Mexicans’ Views Towards the U.S.

Two days ago we showed you what Americans think of Mexico. Now, thanks to our friends at the Pew Research Center, here’s what Mexicans think of their Northern neighbor.

Click here to read more…