Congressmen Gonzalez, Cuellar, and Vela Send Bipartisan Letter to President Cautioning Against NAFTA Withdrawal
WASHINGTON— Today, Congressmen Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Filemon Vela (TX-34), Kevin Cramer (ND-01), Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Congresswomen Terri Sewell (AL-07) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30) sent a bipartisan letter to President Trump urging that he work to update and modernize – not withdraw the U.S. from – the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The letter describes the benefits NAFTA has conferred on the American economy and warns of the consequences withdrawal would have.
Members have consistently encouraged the administration to abide by a "do no harm" doctrine and preserve the relationships we have built with our neighbors who work with us on a daily basis to promote trade and border security.
However, the three NAFTA partner countries recently concluded the seventh round of renegotiations, and are showing no signs of arriving at an agreement. In addition to talks of withdrawal on the campaign trail, President Trump recently imposed tariffs on steel, aluminum, and solar panel products, none of which bodes well for free trade.
"NAFTA has fortified deep-seated connections between our three countries and spurred growth and economic development in South Texas and across the country," Congressman Gonzalez said. "Today, I join my colleagues in echoing the calls of our constituents and encouraging the administration not to squander this opportunity for modernization, but rather to embrace it."
"My colleagues and I fully understand the critical importance of NAFTA for our districts," Congressman Cuellar said. "Regional trade has increased over the treaty's first two decades, from roughly $290 billion in 1993 to over $1.1 trillion in 2016. While withdrawal would be disastrous for the hundreds of thousands of employees and businesses that rely on the agreement, a 21st century update for this deal is the best outcome for American jobs and our economy. I hope to work in a bipartisan way with my colleagues and the administration to update – not withdraw from – the agreement."
"NAFTA plays a central role in the economy of Texas and of the Rio Grande Valley. Mexico is Texas' largest export market, receiving about forty percent of Texas' total exports," Congressman Vela said. "As negotiations on NAFTA continue, the Administration must not lose sight of the value of NAFTA for the state of Texas as a whole and of the detrimental impact that a withdrawal would have on the Texas economy."
"Because trade supports 40 percent of jobs in Washington state, the importance of effective trade partnerships like NAFTA goes beyond partisanship," Congressman Newhouse said. "Trading partners who play by the rules provide markets to sell American-made manufactured and agriculture goods. I support modernizing NAFTA in a way that preserves this important relationship that benefits jobs and businesses in Washington state."
Read the full letter below:
March 8, 2018
President Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to you to stress the importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Updating and modernizing this 24-year old agreement to grow U.S. competitiveness and good-paying jobs are bipartisan objectives. At the same time, the modernization process must also recognize that NAFTA has brought about a deeper economic relationship between our three countries on which millions of workers depend. Changes to NAFTA must keep in top of mind those workers and the businesses, many of them small and medium enterprises (SME) that have been able to grow their global competitiveness and U.S. footprint because of NAFTA, not in spite of it.
Most importantly, we urge you to recognize the highly negative impact that withdrawing from the agreement would have on millions of these workers and tens of thousands of industries that rely on sales to and partnerships with Canada and Mexico. This economic devastation that withdrawal would create would not be confined to any particular region, but rather would cost jobs all over the country in a wide variety of industries, from agriculture and manufacturing to services and technology.
As our country's top two export countries, trade with Canada and Mexico has risen to $1.3 trillion annually, supporting 14 million American jobs, including more than two million manufacturing jobs. Every day, goods valued at more than $3.3 billion move across the borders between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and Canadians and Mexicans purchased $500 billion worth of goods manufactured in the U.S. In fact, half of all goods imported by Canada and Mexico are U.S.A-made.
Among those who have benefited from NAFTA are America's farmers and ranchers. U.S. agricultural exports to both Canada and Mexico have quadrupled under the agreement from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $38.1 billion in 2016, stimulating growth in rural America and decreasing prices for consumers. Similarly, U.S. manufactured goods exports have more than tripled to Canada and Mexico, from $129 billion in 1993 to nearly $469 in 2017, making Canada and Mexico the largest foreign purchasers of made-in-the-USA manufactured goods, more than the next 10 U.S. trading partners combined. Additionally, American small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been one of the agreement's greatest beneficiaries, with NAFTA enabling 125,000 SMEs to sell their goods and services to Canada and Mexico.
NAFTA is now intertwined throughout our economy, and we are committed to working with you to improve it so that it provides stronger benefits across the nation. To achieve this goal requires that we keep NAFTA in place as a trilateral agreement and modernize it in ways that will create certainty, raise standards, and strengthen enforcement so that this can truly be a model agreement for the 21st century. On behalf of the millions of Americans whose jobs depend on this relationship and the tens of millions more that benefit from it, we urge you to work with us to modernize - not withdraw from – NAFTA.
Sincerely,
Henry Cuellar
Member of Congress
Vicente Gonzalez
Member of Congress
Filemon Vela
Member of Congress
Terri Sewell
Member of Congress
Dan Newhouse
Member of Congress
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Member of Congress
Kevin Cramer
Member of Congress