WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) welcomes the visit to Milwaukee of Mexico’s Undersecretary for North America Carlos Perez-Verdia, who came to Wisconsin Thursday as his country prepares to open a consulate in Milwaukee. For more than a year, Sen. Johnson and Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin's 7th District have worked closely to bring a consulate to Milwaukee. The two lawmakers offered their strong support on the occasion of Perez-Verdia's visit: 

“I am pleased to see that this consulate in Milwaukee will open soon,” said Johnson. “It will mean more convenience for Wisconsinites who have business with the government of Mexico and will be a tremendous help to the Mexican community of Wisconsin.  It will also help Wisconsin businesses better engage in trade. That means Wisconsin farms and manufacturers will have better access to customers abroad for the world-class output of our great state. Facilitating business for individuals and companies will make for a more robust economy, enhancing the economic security of America. It’s been a privilege to play a part in this.”  

Johnson praised the leadership of Duffy on the issue.

Rep. Duffy offered: “This day has been a long time in the making. I thank Senator Johnson, and everyone involved, for recognizing this great opportunity and working together to make it happen. The consulate will serve as a resource and a liaison, not just for the Mexican-American community in our state, but also for a wide range of Wisconsin businesses.  Mexico is Wisconsin’s second largest export market and America’s third largest trading partner with more than a billion dollars of trade across our shared border each day. From 2013-2014, Wisconsin exports to Mexico increased by more than 12% and on average, 40% of the products we import from Mexico contain materials made in the U.S.A.  We share many common western values with Mexico. We have a natural incentive to bolster trade with our southern neighbor and focus more of our attention on building these type of relationships versus working with those who don’t share our values or play by the same set of rules.

"I’m grateful to the undersecretary for taking the time to visit our beautiful state and I look forward to building on our friendship and mutual trade cooperation."