Biden meets with Mexican president and closes out APEC summit in San Francisco
President Biden is meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and hosting a leaders retreat Friday to close out the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation, after three days of huddling with other world leaders in San Francisco.
Migration is a key topic of conversation for the U.S. and Mexican presidents, as both countries deal with an overwhelming influx of migrants crossing their borders. As it was during Mr. Biden's lengthy meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, fentanyl will be a topic of conversation for the U.S. and Mexican presidents, too. Both countries play a critical role, as the U.S. tries to curb fentanyl.
"We're fully aware of the damage it poses to the United States' youth," Obrador said of fentanyl.
Mr. Biden and Xi announced Wednesday that China would tell companies to restrict shipments to the western hemisphere of pill presses and precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, largely in Mexico, that is then trafficked across the southern border in the U.S. The Associated Press noted that China has resumed information sharing with an international database about suspected trafficking.
Mr. Biden's relationship with Obrador is an uneasy one at times. Last year, Obrador skipped the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles after the U.S. declined to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Obrador originally said he planned to skip this year's APEC conference as well because Mexico has "no relations" with Peru, the next host of APEC. Both leaders are up for reelection next year.
Obrador and Xi also met during the APEC summit as well, committing to battle drug trafficking between their two countries.
The much-anticipated Biden-Xi meeting also culminated in the announcement of the resumption of military communications between the U.S. and China. And Xi announced China will send pandas to California, a gesture that came after Chinese pandas that had long lived in Washington, D.C., at the National Zoo returned to China earlier this month.
In addition to meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit, Mr. Biden has met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.