Brad Wenstrup: “For over a year the administration and Republicans in Congress have emphasized the urgency of passing the new United…”

“For over a year the administration and Republicans in Congress have emphasized the urgency of passing the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the USMCA. With this bipartisan vote, and with the hard work from both sides of the aisle, we finally have the opportunity to rebalance North American trade. In spite of delays, this opportunity that exists for all Americans is finally here today. It has been 25 years since our North American Trade Agreement was established, and it has not been updated to reflect the modern economy. Under this new trade agreement, our farmers, manufacturers, and workers will finally have a deal that modernizes North American trade, boosts our economy, and strengthens our Nation's role in the global trading market. American farmers will now have increased access to the Canadian market to sell products like dairy, poultry, eggs, and wheat, a vast improvement over the status quo. It improves intellectual property provisions that will protect innovation, safeguard American trade secrets in Canada and Mexico, though certain protections could be stronger. USMCA also modernizes trade with Canada and Mexico by establishing a new gold-standard digital trade chapter to continue the growth of our digital economy. It includes a new chapter dedicated to helping small- and medium-sized businesses, which make up 98 percent of our Nation's exporters.…”