We Can't Afford to Delay Passage of USMCA Trade Deal “China would love nothing more than for Congress to kill the USMCA and stall future trade agreements, so it can promote its own low standards and coercive economic agenda with other countries,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) writes in The Hill. “The United States has a strategic interest in writing the future rules for trade that support U.S. competitiveness and opens markets to our goods, services and values. Passing the USMCA would kickstart a wave of bipartisan trade wins for the United States that would grow our economy and advance our interests and national security. I urge my Democratic colleagues not to delay bringing this bill forward for a vote as soon as it is sent to Congress.” Click here to read more.

President Trump’s “promise of putting American workers and interests first in negotiating trade deals resonated both with the Republican base and with Democrats who felt their party had abandoned them. Making sure our international trading partners were treating us fairly was a chief campaign promise of the president,” Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R) writes in the Times Free Press. “The president is keeping his promise with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It is a measured, careful approach that stays true to free trade principles while making sure our farmers, laborers and white-collar workers are protected.”

“Our cumulative trade deficit with Mexico since 1985 exceeds $1 trillion, 98 percent of which came after NAFTA went into effect. This is why we need USMCA,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross writes in The Roanoke Times. The new deal will finally level the playing field across American industries and will create “tens of thousands of more jobs.”

“Because of the impact the agriculture industry has on Virginia’s economy, there will be no more important debate in Congress this year than the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), now called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” former Virginia Commerce Secretary Todd Haymore writes in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Our elected representatives in Washington must be ready to fight for the passage of the USMCA as soon as possible. Failure to stabilize the United States’ relationships with Canada and Mexico will have negative consequences for Virginia farmers and the national economy at large.”

“One industry that the USMCA would benefit the most within Iowa is the dairy industry,” writes Larry Shover, President of the Iowa State Diary Association, in The Courier. Currently, U.S. dairy exports to Canada are heavily limited by the Class 7 pricing scheme and tariff-rate quotas. The USMCA tears down Class 7 pricing and requires more transparency, making the new trade deal vital for the U.S. dairy industry. “We need our members of Congress to ratify the USMCA now.”