On Monday, June 18 Mexico was officially welcomed to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Talks. Mexico joins the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei in a trade deal that will provide a link to expanding markets of the Asia Pacific region. Canada was invited to join the TPP talks Tuesday, June 19. Still pending is the inclusion of Japan, which also expressed an interest to join the talks in November of 2011.

The U.S., Canada and Mexico have been partners since 1994 in NAFTA and their economies are already heavily intertwined. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is meant to strengthen standards in the areas of labor, environment and intellectual property rights protections. The goal is to reduce regulatory barriers to trade.

The next round of negotiations will take place from July 2 to July 10 in San Diego. “Companies and workers in our three countries literally make things together, with supply chains that cross our borders and make North America more competitive on the global stage. As a result, negotiating the TPP together is an excellent strategic decision for North America,” stated Thomas Donahue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The inclusion of Mexico in the TPP is expected to result in increased economic opportunities for Mexico, working with its North American partners.