McAllen inks trade understanding with San Luis Potosi

McAllen officials recently inked a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with government leaders in the southern Mexican state of San Luis Potosi — a milestone that will hopefully lead to a trade agreement between the two regions.

McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos and Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, the governor of San Luis Potosi, signed the MOU agreement during a ceremony held at San Luis on Sunday, according to a news release issued by the city.

The MOU affirms the two governments’ commitments to using the commercial lanes at the Anzalduas International Bridge once they become operational next spring.

The MOU will “strengthen international trade and commerce and promote efficient exports through the strategic use of the Anzalduas International Bridge,” the news release states.

While the MOU is not a formal trade agreement between San Luis and McAllen, it does help solidify that state’s intention to use Anzalduas as a conduit for its automotive parts trade, McAllen City Manager Isaac Tawil said on Monday.

“In light of the full cargo expansion happening there (at the bridge), it is the most logical place for cargo coming out of San Luis to go,” Tawil said.

When asked if Sunday’s MOU could lead to a more concrete trade agreement between the city and San Luis in the future, Tawil replied, “Absolutely.”

McAllen views the burgeoning relationship with San Luis Potosi as a first step in establishing similar relationships with other Mexican trade partners.

“Our partnership with San Luis Potosi acknowledges the value of collaboration in facilitating two-way trade and safeguarding the supply chain in the streamlining (of) the entry of goods through our Anzalduas port of entry starting next year,” Villalobos, the mayor, stated.

“By expanding these relationships within Mexico, we aim to attract more investment, promote trade, and create more employment opportunities for our residents in our region,” Villalobos further stated.

The trade trip comes less than two months after the San Luis Potosi governor, his wife and other Mexican dignitaries, traveled to the Rio Grande Valley for a firsthand look at the expansion efforts at Anzalduas.

There, they held a roundtable with McAllen and Mission officials to discuss bringing the Mexican state’s expansive automotive industry, which is the second largest in Mexico, to Anzalduas, Gallardo said.

The city of Mission co-owns the bridge with McAllen and the cities of Granjeno and Hidalgo.

During a news conference held afterward in the shadow of the bridge’s passenger toll booths, the San Luis governor said that his state’s automotive parts exports generate $5 billion in revenue.

San Luis exports the bulk of that cargo through land ports of entry in Laredo, which are often beset by long lines that impact the bottom line.

“The logistics of transportation in San Luis Potosi for the companies has been a lot of work, and they’ve lost a lot of money from being stalled on bridges that don’t flow smoothly,” Gallardo, speaking in Spanish, said during that July news conference.

Mexican officials hope Anzaludas’ new commercial lanes will help streamline that traffic.

The city of San Luis Potosi, which serves as that state’s capital, already enjoys a sister city relationship with the cities of McAllen and Mission.

In addition to the state of San Luis’ commitment to funneling industrial trade to Anzalduas, the city of San Luis has committed to being able to attract American tourists to southern Mexico by constructing an airport.

As local officials work diligently to strengthen trade and cultural relationships with Mexico, they hope those bonds will pay dividends here.

At the July news conference, Telco J. Garcia, CEO of the Mission Economic Development Corporation, said he hopes the Anzalduas bridge will come to serve as a hub for binational trade.

Speaking on Monday, Tawil — who just began his tenure as McAllen city manager — said that the trade relationships are vital to illustrating the Rio Grande Valley’s place in the national economy.

“All of the relationships that the city of McAllen develops with our counterparts in industry in Mexico is critical to the economic growth and development of McAllen and the region, generally,” Tawil said.

“It’s those kinds of relationships that highlight the importance of the Valley as a gateway to commerce in the United States,” he said.