Obama, Peña Nieto Talk Trade but Not Oaxaca, State Violence

U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto discussed Wednesday the need for their countries to work together on issues such as drug trafficking and trade—but did not discuss human rights and the violent police crackdowns in Mexico against striking teachers that has gripped the country this month.

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Peña Nieto told reporters after the meeting that he had accepted Obama's invitation to visit the United States one final time before Obama leaves the White House in January.

The two leaders met ahead of a North American summit in Ottawa on Wednesday that also included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada, the United States and Mexico on Wednesday vowed to deepen their economic ties, pushing back against anti-free-trade sentiment that has shifted political debate in the United States and Europe.

The three nations are member of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, which U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to renegotiate or scrap if he wins November's election.

Obama , Trudeau and Peña Nieto, meeting at the so-called "Three Amigos" summit in Ottawa, said an efficient North American economy was vital for creating good-paying, middle-class jobs.

"We will build upon this strong trilateral economic relationship, and further facilitate trade among our three countries, and improve the networks that allow us to produce products and services together," they said in a statement.

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Obama and Peña Nieto stressed the importance of the relationship between the United States and Mexico, which has come under strain amid heated U.S. campaign rhetoric, and Obama invited the Mexican leader for a last visit to Washington before Obama's term ends in January.

"Isolationism cannot bring prosperity to a society," Peña Nieto said after talks with Obama.

Obama said their meeting comes at "a time when we are all too often hearing rhetoric that ignores the enormous contributions that have been made by Mexican Americans, and the enormous strengths that we draw from the relationship with our good neighbors to the south."

One obstacle to free trade is the dumping of products at artificially low prices, and Trudeau, Obama and Peña Nieto said they agreed on the need for the governments of all major steel-making nations to address excess capacity.

Although they did not single out any country, the United States has acted several times to prevent dumping of some Chinese steel products.

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