North America Must Unite to Compete in Fragmenting Global Trade

North America must ‘join forces’ to compete as global trade fragments, expert says

SAN ANTONIO — North America’s ability to compete with China and other global economic powers will depend increasingly on closer regional integration, infrastructure investment and workforce development, economic and city leaders said at the 2026 North American Development Bank Summit.

Agustín Carstens, former governor of the Bank of Mexico and former head of the Bank for International Settlements, urged the United States, Mexico and Canada to pursue what he called “smart integration” as global trade faces geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressure, artificial intelligence and less resilient supply chains.

Carstens delivered his keynote address, titled “North American Integration and Global Trends,” on Aug. 27 during the summit in San Antonio. The annual event brings together government officials, businesses, financial institutions, academics and infrastructure specialists from the United States and Mexico.

This year’s summit focused on binational cooperation and financing infrastructure projects along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Infrastructure seen as a limit on growth

Carstens said the global economy has changed significantly from the period when expanding trade, integrated supply chains and growing labor markets allowed producers to respond efficiently to rising demand.

Mexico benefited substantially from that system, he said, shifting from an economy heavily dependent on oil exports in the early 1980s to becoming the United States’ largest trading partner.

That model has become less flexible, however. Pandemic-related disruptions, geopolitical conflicts, higher energy costs, protectionism, trade tensions with China, labor shortages and inadequate investment have increased costs and made supply chains more vulnerable.

Those conditions can contribute to higher inflation and slower economic growth, Carstens said. Governments also have less room to rely on fiscal and monetary policy to offset future economic shocks.

He argued that expanding productive capacity will require structural reforms, investment in transportation and other infrastructure, and better preparation for workers whose jobs may be affected by technological change.

“I think that we need to reintroduce smart integration, smart regional developments, join forces and move forward,” Carstens said. He urged North American countries to focus on their competitiveness as a region rather than treating each country’s economic performance as an entirely separate matter.

For freight transportation, the discussion highlighted the importance of border crossings, highways and other infrastructure that allow goods to move between manufacturers, suppliers and customers. Carstens said transportation bottlenecks along the border reflect years of piecemeal investment and restrict the region’s productive capacity.

He also called for a larger role for NADBank in addressing those constraints, saying the institution should be modernized and encouraged stakeholders to “think big” about its potential contribution.

Border cities promote a shared economic region

The need for closer coordination was also emphasized by El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson and Ciudad Juárez Mayor Hector Ortiz during a summit discussion about the Borderplex region.

The mayors described El Paso and Juárez as parts of one interconnected economic area rather than competing municipalities separated by an international boundary. Johnson said the region, including nearby communities, is increasingly marketed as a market of about 2.7 million residents instead of El Paso being promoted on its own as a city of roughly 800,000.

Johnson said the two cities are working together to expand aerospace, advanced manufacturing and technology. Ortiz described the El Paso-Juárez-Las Cruces area as an interconnected economic engine and said Juárez could not develop its potential alone.

The Borderplex is the fifth-largest manufacturing hub in North America by employment, according to figures cited during the panel. Johnson said one in four El Paso jobs is connected to manufacturing and that every 100 manufacturing jobs created in Juárez generates approximately three jobs in El Paso.

More than $140 billion in trade moves through the El Paso border region, Johnson said. He argued that improving throughput at the area’s international bridges could create additional economic activity in Texas and elsewhere in the United States.

El Paso operates the Paso del Norte, Ysleta and Stanton bridges. For trucking companies and drivers, the capacity and efficiency of those crossings can affect delivery schedules, equipment utilization and the reliability of production networks on both sides of the border.

Workforce and technology add pressure

Artificial intelligence was another concern raised during the summit. Carstens said AI could generate major productivity gains but could also disrupt workers and industries in ways similar to earlier periods of globalization and technological change.

He called for more flexible education and training so workers can adapt as technology changes the skills required in manufacturing, transportation and other sectors.

Related policy discussions surrounding North American competitiveness have also focused on critical minerals, digital trade, investment screening and energy integration. A 2025 paper from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy described the upcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement as an important test of the region’s ability to protect jobs, secure supply chains and maintain technological leadership.

The paper’s recommendations include stronger cooperation in areas tied to advanced manufacturing and national economic security. Its discussion of AI also identified workforce shortages as a constraint on the development of models, infrastructure and adoption.

For the border freight industry, the broader message from the summit was direct: North American integration already exists, but its benefits depend on whether the region can keep goods, workers, energy and information moving efficiently.

That could require additional investment in bridges and transportation networks, coordinated workforce programs, reliable water supplies and closer planning between communities on opposite sides of the border. As global trade becomes more fragmented and expensive, those factors may become increasingly important to the region’s ability to compete with China and other manufacturing powers.