US manufacturing sector issues support for USMCA

The US manufacturing industry has voiced its support and commitment to engaging with the governments of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to ensure it is implemented in a way that will support the recovery and renewal of its economies.

Ahead of the implementation of the USMCA, which comes into force on 1 July, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) wrote a letter to Presidents Donald Trump and Andrés Manuel López Obrador Obrador, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying they will remain steadfast in their support for “robust North American trade and investment in the decades to come”.

“As the leading organisations representing manufacturers and millions of manufacturing workers in the United States, Mexico and Canada, we write to underscore our strong support for the United States– Mexico–Canada Agreement and emphasise the importance of this critical agreement for our industry. Manufacturing is critical for the entire North American economy and our closely integrated supply chains,” they wrote.

Manufacturers contribute more than US$2.7trn cumulatively each year to the US, Mexican and Canadian economies, and $2.3bn worth of manufactured goods crossed the country’s borders each day last year, according to NAM.

The USMCA makes a number of updates and modifications to the 25-year-old NAFTA and will offer qualifying textiles and apparel, travel goods and footwear originating from the USMCA region duty-free access to the US and Canadian markets.

It also includes new provisions on textiles that incentivise greater North American production, strengthens customs enforcement, and facilitate broader consultation and cooperation among the three parties.

“The USMCA will bolster manufacturing by ensuring North American supply chain continuity and certainty, enabling manufacturing growth, strengthening our ability to compete globally and supporting the more than 22 million manufacturing workers across our three countries. As our industry leads an economic recovery, this continuity and certainty is crucial,” the letter continues.

“The NAM, Confederation of Industrial Chambers of Mexico (CONCAMIN), and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) are committed to engaging with the US, Mexican and Canadian governments to ensure that the USMCA is implemented in a manner that will support the recovery and renewal of our economies, and we will remain steadfast in our support for robust North American trade and investment in the decades to come.”