President Biden wraps up San Francisco trip to APEC
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif - World leaders from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit were set to leave San Francisco Friday, including President Joe Biden.
Biden’s final day at APEC included a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mexico’s leader arrived at the Moscone Center Friday morning.
The agenda included a historic number of migrants at the southern border, including undocumented immigrants and legal immigration pathways. A major topic for the two men during their hour-long meeting was the trafficking of fentanyl over the southern border. Their conversation was particularly timely, after Biden announced an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to crack down on the export of materials used to make the deadly drug.
"We see it in our security cooperation, working side by side to address arms trafficking, to tackle organized crime, to address the opioid epidemic and including fentanyl, which when we talk privately, about my conversation with Xi Jinping about that issue," Biden said.
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"Continue to support so we do not allow the introduction of chemical components and chemical precursors to fentanyl, because we’re fully aware of the damage it poses the United States youth," López Obrador said.
The president also hosted the APEC leaders’ retreat Friday, where he officially transferred the chair to Peru, wrapping up the U.S.’s year as host.
Biden was scheduled to fly out of San Francisco on board Air Force One around 1:30 pm Friday.