A majority of Massachusetts members of the US House of Representatives voted last week to approve the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement that has been strongly supported by AIM and other business groups.

Members of the Massachusetts delegation voting in favor included US Reps. Richard Neal, Stephen Lynch, Katherine Clark, William Keating, Seth Moulton and Lori Trahan. The US Senate is expected to take up USMCA in early 2020.

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.

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.

AIM and its 3,500 member employers commend those members of the Congressional delegation who voted for USMCA.