Senior Manager, Small Business Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Published
August 01, 2019
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Momentum for the passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which would modernize the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with guidelines for digital trade, is rapidly growing.
Last week, industry leaders gathered at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for an event to discuss the importance of the USMCA and the path forward in Congress. They represented some of the 600 industry groups, agricultural associations, and local chambers who recently sent a letter to every member of Congress calling for USMCA’s ratification.
“The support for the USMCA across the business community is wide and deep and the coalition we’ve assembled here today is a case and point,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said at the event.
Industry leaders from a wide array of economic sectors emphasized the importance of USMCA for businesses, American workers, and families. Here are some of the key points they made:
Voices from Food and Agriculture
Voices from the Auto Industry
Voices from Retail and Manufacturing
As Congress gears up for August recess, USMCA is top of mind for many manufacturers, farmers, retailers, automakers, and American workers. Without a modern North American trade agreement, trade pacts with other countries would likely be negatively affected—limiting the international market access U.S. companies rely on for growth and job creation.
“If we don’t move positively on Canada and Mexico, it’ll be very difficult for us to muster the goodwill in other places to get agreements with China, Japan, the EU…” Donohue said.
For more information on USMCA and to see the breadth of industries and organization that are counting on its passage, view the U.S. Chamber’s letter to Congress here.
About the authors
Kelly Rosenblatt
Kelly Rosenblatt is the Social Media and Digital Operations Project Manager at the U.S. Chamber.
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