This op-ed is excerpted from a speech delivered last week at the Maine Bankers Association’s annual convention.

One look at the daily headlines and you can’t help but note that the world today is marked by geopolitical turbulence and uncertainty. From the impacts of climate change and emerging technologies like AI, to rising energy costs and supply chain constraints resulting from conflicts elsewhere, a certain nervousness may set in.

But these challenges actually leave me thinking how fortunate we are – Canada and the United States – to have one another as neighbors and partners. Ours is a partnership that not only leaves us feeling secure in our North American neighborhood, but it also brings resilience and prosperity to our communities.

Starting with the indigenous peoples who were the first to inhabit the land, our communities have found reason to exchange, innovate and build together for centuries. Perhaps your families were among those who migrated from Quebec or Acadia over a century ago, contributing to Maine’s vibrant francophone communities. The exchanges between our communities have only grown over the years.

Our two countries share more than a border. We share the same values: democracy; rule of law; respect for human rights. Those values form the basis of our shared commitment to keeping our part of the world safe and secure, creating strong economies and good-paying jobs, and protecting and conserving our incredible natural resources for future generations.

Our strong economic partnership now totals a trillion dollars in annual bilateral trade. That’s $2.7 billion worth of goods and services that cross our border every single day.

Trade with Canada supports 7.8 million U.S. jobs. In Maine alone, there are 94 Canadian-owned companies employing over 5,300 workers. It’s businesses like TD Bank, RBC, SunLife, Cooke Aquaculture and McCain Foods, all of whom have established operations in the Pine Tree State, employing people, paying taxes, contributing to your communities in various ways.

And for Maine-based companies, that trade means a solid customer base, just across the border. Last year, Maine exported over $1.6 billion in goods and services to Canada, making us your largest customer. In fact, Canada is consistently the largest customer for 35 states.

What I have always found most remarkable about our free and balanced trading relationship is how we not only sell things to each other, but how we make things together. The fact is, most Canadian exports to the U.S. are raw inputs that contribute to U.S. manufactured goods that are then sold around the world.

If you’re driving a North American-made car, it probably crossed the border seven or eight times before its final assembly in Mississauga or Michigan. The same is true of Maine-produced products, whether it’s the New Brunswick forest products that are milled at the Twin Rivers Paper Company in Madawaska or the PEI blueberries that end up in a bag of Wyman’s frozen blueberries sold in supermarkets across the country.

Raw inputs from Canada also include much of the energy that powers American homes and factories. Know that energy from your next-door-neighbor and closest ally continues to be safe, secure, affordable and sustainably produced.

Our relationship is further enhanced by our security partnership. Understanding that a threat to one of us is a threat to both, U.S. and Canadian defense and security agencies collaborate seamlessly to secure and defend the North American perimeter, our shared values in the world and the sovereignty of our great nations.

Along our 5,500 miles long shared border, our respective law enforcement agencies work hand-in-hand 24/7, 365 days a year, keeping threats at bay while making vital cross-border trade and travel as efficient as possible. It is that kind of partnership that allows over 400,000 people to cross our border every single day.

Beyond the border, our defense cooperation is more extensive than between any other two nations in the world. The cornerstone of this partnership is the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the world’s only binational military command.

I hope you agree that now more than ever, the synergistic relationship between the United States and Canada is critical to ensuring our communities are resilient and secure. Please join me in highlighting these strong linkages within your communities and in finding ways to make them even stronger.