U.S. Chamber President Hails NAFTA’s Contributions to U.S. Jobs, Growth

“Today More Than Ever, We Need the Millions of Jobs NAFTA has Provided,” said Donohue

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In his keynote address today before the “NAFTA20” North American Summit in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue hailed the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) over the past two decades.

“The bottom line is that NAFTA has supported millions of good jobs, raised standards of living, and enhanced the competitiveness of North American industry in a rapidly changing global economy,” said Donohue. “NAFTA’s tremendous benefits for American workers, farmers, and companies are hidden in plain sight. Today more than ever, we need the millions of jobs and the huge boost to our competitiveness that NAFTA has provided. However, the United States can’t rest on its laurels. Elected officials and business leaders in Canada, Mexico, and the United States must work together to build on this foundation in the years ahead.”

“North America is experiencing a renaissance in energy production of epic proportions,” he added. “The potential in the United States alone is tremendous. Unconventional oil and natural gas development will attract manufacturing back to the United States, boost exports, expand our tax base and revenues, and reduce our dependence on unfriendly or risky suppliers. When you add up the potential of all three countries, our energy resources are truly staggering. We must do everything in our power to seize the extraordinary energy opportunity in North America.”

In conjunction with Donohue’s participation in the NAFTA20 Summit, the Chamber released a new report entitled NAFTA Triumphant: Assessing Two Decades of Gains in Trade, Growth, and Jobs.
Among the report’s key findings:

• Since NAFTA entered into force in 1994, trade with Canada and Mexico has risen three-and-one-half fold to $1.2 trillion, and the two countries buy about one-third of U.S. merchandise exports.
• Trade with Canada and Mexico supports nearly 14 million U.S. jobs, and nearly 5 million of these net jobs are supported by the increase in trade generated by NAFTA, according to a comprehensive economic study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber.
• The expansion of trade unleashed by NAFTA supports tens of thousands of jobs in each of the 50 states—and more than 100,000 jobs in each of 17 states.
• Canadians and Mexicans purchased $428 billion of U.S. manufactured goods in 2011, generating $36,000 in export revenue for every American factory worker.
• NAFTA has been a bonanza for U.S. farmers and ranchers, with one in every ten acres on American farms planted for export to Canada and Mexico.
• With new market access afforded by NAFTA, U.S. services exports to Canada and Mexico have tripled, rising from $27 billion in 1993 to $82 billion in 2011.
• Canada and Mexico are the top two export destinations for U.S. small and medium-size enterprises, more than 116,000 of which sold their goods and services in Canada and Mexico in 2009.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.