Our economy relies on successful free trade with our North American neighbors. And while America has enjoyed great prosperity over the last quarter century, the trade agreement we have in place with our border nations is outdated. Congress must pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will strengthen this pact by conforming it to the modern way business is done today.
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, trade among our three nations has quadrupled, generating enormous economic growth in all three countries. It has supported 12 million American jobs, and generated $1.4 trillion in 2018 alone.
But the world has changed dramatically since NAFTA. E-commerce didn’t exist back then -- and advancements in technology have transformed the way American business is conducted today.
The advent of the online economy has made it easier for consumers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to access goods and services from across North America. But it’s also made U.S. innovation more susceptible to theft.
Our trade pact must keep pace with these realities. And the USMCA will do exactly that by modernizing trade for the digital economy, protecting intellectual property, removing regulatory and technical barriers, updating agricultural trade standards, ensuring greater financial services trade, maintaining critical market access – and ensuring fair competition.
That’s why the Chamber has been working tirelessly to communicate the benefits of the USMCA to policy-makers, and businesses large and small, and consumers.
Over 600 business and agricultural associations and chambers of commerce sent a letter to Capitol Hill urging members to support the USMCA.
We’ve had 570 meetings with members of Congress or their staff -- and we’ve conducted over 300 briefings to state and local chambers of commerce and associations.
More than 400 business groups from every sector of the economy have banded together to form the USMCA Coalition to urge Congress to pass the agreement. Our efforts have had over 750 mentions in the press, and reached more than 250 million people on social media.
Getting this deal done is an economic priority for America.
That’s why it’s our top priority – and should be Congress’, too.
