Blog & News

Back to Posts

Archived: Time to Pass the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement

Posted on November 20, 2019

Associated Industries of Massachusetts and its 3,500 members today urged the United States Congress to approve the new USMCA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

international.flagssmallThe reason is simple – Canada and Mexico purchase more US-made goods than the next 11 trading partner countries combined. USMCA will help to preserve more than 2 million American manufacturing jobs – at least 15,000 of them in Massachusetts – that rely on trade with Canada and Mexico.

Time is short for Congress to act. The US House and Senate need to pass the USMCA before year-end.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Democrats have inched closer to supporting the deal. They have worked to iron out lingering concerns in weeks of talks with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The USMCA was negotiated by the Trump Administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). USMCA strengthens and modernizes intellectual property rules, sets new digital economy standards, expands US manufacturers’ access to Canada and Mexico, ensures that US companies can sell their products duty-free into these markets, eliminates red tape at the border, and levels the playing field by raising standards, prohibiting anti-US discrimination, and strengthening enforcement.

AIM is in contact with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to encourage them to pass the USMCA.  Governor Charlie Baker calls the agreement “strong, fair and flexible.”  Among the many products that are traded between Massachusetts and Canada/Mexico are auto parts, medical devices, lab instruments, semiconductors, paper products and aerospace parts. Most of the manufacturing exports from Massachusetts going to Canada and Mexico are produced by small and medium-size businesses.

AIM urges employers to contact their members of Congress to emphasize how important the USMCA is to manufacturing companies in Massachusetts.   Use this link, shared by the National Association of Manufacturers.

Industry associations, individual companies and elected officials across the US encourage an immediate vote on USMCA.  And while the USMCA is serious business, check out this light-hearted take on why USMCA is so important.