By David Zapata, VP of International Affairs Today we celebrate the two-year anniversary of the implementation of USMCA. The agreement is the result of the support of many stakeholders and trade leaders who worked tirelessly in collaboration with trinational government officials to modernized what used to be NAFTA, in a way that allowed the agreement to deal with the challenges of modern trade while continuing to foster the economic growth of North America.
Texas leaders such as Congressman Kevin Brady and Henry Cuellar played major roles in shepherding the agreement to its final stages before its signing. The entire Texas congressional and senate delegations voted for its final approval. Many Texas private sector leaders were also key in guiding the conversations about the way the agreement would impact cross-border commerce and how to address challenges.
During the two years the USMCA has been implemented, Canada and Mexico have remained two of our most trusted, economic partners. Just in 2021, Texas trade with Mexico was $231B and with Canada was $50B. We expect these economic ties to continue to grow as all three countries perfect the implementation of the agreement to the benefit of their economies. The USMCA impacts people directly since trade through Texas supports nearly one million jobs in our state.
Although not perfect, the USMCA creates opportunity for our partners in the three countries to work together in perfecting its implementation and thus continue to create economic opportunity in North America. TAB celebrates this important anniversary and will continue being a part of the conversation on how to implement USMCA in a way that benefits all stakeholders.
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