Manufacturers Gather in Washington to Urge USMCA Passage

The National Association of Manufacturers is Committed to Helping Manufacturers and Manufacturing Employees in Texas By Supporting USMCA Passage

Texas Border Business

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Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, July 17, the National Association of Manufacturers will bring manufacturing leaders from Texas and across the country together in Washington to urge Congress to pass the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Manufacturers will be meeting with their respective members of Congress to let them know why the USMCA is pivotal to their businesses and the 2 million men and women across the nation, including nearly 115,000 in Texas, whose manufacturing jobs depend on exports to Mexico and Canada.

“The USMCA is critical to the Texas economy, and swift passage will help restore certainty for manufacturers across the country, allowing them to grow and compete with the rest of the world,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons.“Without this agreement, Texas’s manufactured good exports could be subject to $37.3 billion in extra taxes, threatening manufacturing jobs across the state and hurting consumers and families.”

The USMCA, which has been ratified by Mexico, modernizes and bolsters free trade between North American nations, benefitting workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses in each country. The new agreement will expand U.S. exports, improves intellectual property protections and enforcement and creates new provisions on digital trade.

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Canada and Mexico purchase one-fifth of the total value of U.S. manufacturing output—more than the next 11 countries combined despite representing less than 4 percent of the global economy. These exports support about 2 million American manufacturing jobs and 40,000 small and medium-sized businesses. According to new state data from the NAM, Canada and Mexico purchase half of Texas’s total global manufacturing exports, contributing $123 billion to the state economy each year. 

Without the passage of the USMCA and tariff-free trade, the NAM estimates that manufacturers in Texas could face a minimum of $2.3 billion to $37.3 billion in extra taxes, compared to zero today. 

A large chorus of Texas businesses, chambers of commerce and industry organizations have all come out in support of the passage of the USMCA.

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