José M. García

José M. García was appointed Representative of Mexico’s Ministry of Finance to the United States in February 1996. Prior to his appointment, Mr. García occupied the position of Deputy Representative since July 1992.

In these capacities, Mr. García has been the leading negotiator and the coordinator of the working groups created to develop and implement the customs initiatives under the US-Mexico Customs Bilateral Strategic Plan, which was signed between Mexico´s Ministry of Finance and the US Department of Homeland Security and include, among other initiatives, the Unified Cargo Processing program, the customs data exchange mechanisms, the single cargo manifest initiative and the US-Mexico border infrastructure projects.

Mr. Garcia is a member of the Mexican government NAFTA 2.0 negotiating team in everything related to customs and trade facilitation.

Previously, Mr. Garcia was the coordinator of the working groups created for the negotiations of the Uniform Customs Regulations of the first NAFTA and he was the Mexican Representative to the NAFTA Customs Subgroup.

Also, Mr. García was the coordinator of the customs working groups under the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership, as well as those under the U.S. – Mexico Border Partnership.

Mr. García was a member of the Mexican negotiating team of the US-Mexico Tax Treaty, the US-MX Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement and the US-Mexico Money Laundering Agreement, and he is also competent authority for the exchange of tax and customs information between Mexico and the United States.

In addition to his role as coordinator of all the customs and taxation initiatives between Mexico and the United States, in 2008 and 2009 Mr. García was the coordinator of the Mexican Southern Border Project, which is the one that the Mexican Government is implementing at its border with Guatemala and Belize.

Mr. García has represented Mexico Customs in numerous occasions at the World Customs Organization´s Council meetings in Brussels, Belgium, and in multilateral negotiations within the WCO, such as the one on the SAFE Framework of Standards for the Security of the International Trade Supply Chain.

As an accountant, Mr. García has professional experience in tax and financial matters. Before moving to Washington he worked in the private sector for eight years.

Mr. García has also taught macroeconomics and he obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in 1984.