December 16, 2019

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support H.R. 5430, to implement the agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada USMCA) attached as an Annex to the Protocol Replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

This trade agreement will promote and improve the economies of the three trading partners by modernizing trade practices among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It will help farmers by expanding market access for American food and agricultural products and increasing exports of dairy products from the U.S. Auto workers will receive benefits from increased domestic vehicle and automotive parts production and higher wages. The agreement also promotes the use of fibers and other textiles manufactured in the U.S.

Intellectual property (IP) protections are strengthened by the agreement, including a digital trade chapter that will prohibit customs duties and other discriminatory measures from being applied to digital products distributed electronically.   In addition, the agreement will encourage and promote cooperation among the three countries to increase small and medium-sized business trade and investment opportunities.

To ensure that the USMCA will remain viable as time evolves, the agreement must be reviewed by all participating countries every six years and renewed every sixteen years, allowing for future changes to the agreement to adjust to economic and technological factors and ensuring a modern agreement for today and into the future. While not all the provisions of this agreement are perfect, USMCA is a vast improvement to NAFTA and will encourage future economic growth and cooperation among the three countries.

Mexico has already ratified the USMCA, and Canada is working toward ratification as well. I urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 5430, ratifying the agreement. All votes relating to USMCA will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2019 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW

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