Obama leaves for regional summit in Mexico

U.S. President Barack Obama left for Mexico on Wednesday morning for a summit of North American leaders. The one-day meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes place in Toluca, Pena Nieto's hometown, and is expected to focus on how to revitalize the North American Free Trade Agreement, which came into force 20 years ago. A White House official said the three countries had "a significant interest" in boosting North American competitiveness as a whole, "because where North America is functioning well as a trading bloc, it strengthens our position in the global economy." He said atop the three leaders' agenda would be lifting North American competitiveness, and reducing barriers to "effective and efficient" trade that supports jobs in all three countries. The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, security, energy and climate change were also topics of discussion, the official said in a briefing on Obama's trip