Washington, D.C. – The Alliance for American Manufacturing sent a letter to Congress in support of legislation (H.R. 5430) to implement the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The letter notes that, while imperfect, this agreement is an improvement over its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and includes stronger rules of origin requirements for steel and automobiles.
In the letter, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul wrote:
“While past forecasts of job gains through trade agreements have been wildly overstated, we believe, if properly enforced and implemented, the new rules established under this agreement will reduce some incentives to ship jobs abroad…
“USMCA alone won’t turbocharge American manufacturing, but it is a potentially significant improvement over the NAFTA passed by Congress in 1993 and should be a baseline for future trade negotiations.”
Find the text of the letter below:
Dear Senators and Representatives:
On behalf of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) – a non-profit, non-partisan partnership formed in 2007 by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers – I write to express our support for passage of legislation to implement the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). While imperfect, the modernized agreement is a potentially substantial improvement over past trade agreements that have resulted in increased imports and lost American manufacturing jobs.
In June 2017, we offered detailed comments to the administration on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and now find that the modernized agreement, with the input of Congress, makes progress on many of our priorities. These include stronger rules of origin requirements, enforceable labor and wage rules to ensure that the agreement will not incentivize a race to the bottom, preservation of domestic content requirements in the American procurement market, and other matters. The rules of origin requirements specific to steel and automobiles are notable improvements over NAFTA and the abandoned Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
While past forecasts of job gains through trade agreements have been wildly overstated, we believe, if properly enforced and implemented, the new rules established under this agreement will reduce some incentives to ship jobs abroad. The USMCA should be viewed as a starting point for these efforts, rather than the culmination of them. There is much more that Congress and the administration can do to boost American manufacturing and reduce incentives to shift production out of the country. We must strengthen domestic government procurement preference laws, vigorously enforce trade laws, invest in domestic infrastructure and innovation, reimagine and boost our skills training programs, and encourage investments in domestic production and workers through the tax code.
USMCA alone won’t turbocharge American manufacturing, but it is a potentially significant improvement over the NAFTA passed by Congress in 1993 and should be a baseline for future trade negotiations.
Sincerely,
Scott N. Paul
President
Alliance for American Manufacturing
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