For over 25 years, Republicans and Democrats alike griped about the North American Free Trade Agreement. Because of its weak, voluntary labor and environmental “rules,” NAFTA cost America millions of jobs and devastated working-class communities.
President Trump was one of NAFTA’s earliest critics as far back as the 1990s. Like former President Obama, candidate Trump promised to renegotiate NAFTA if he was elected. Unlike President Obama, Donald Trump kept that promise after taking office.
As of today, NAFTA is gone—replaced by the far stronger United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
🎬 Flashback: “We’re finally ending the NAFTA nightmare”
The USMCA is a complete overhaul of North American trade, with modern, rebalanced rules for business and investment. The International Trade Commission predicts that the USMCA will create up to 589,000 new American jobs and have the most positive impact on U.S. jobs and wages of any trade agreement that the Commission has ever reviewed.
The new agreement is also a major bipartisan victory, incorporating ideas from both Democrats and Republicans to get the best deal possible for America’s workers.
“The strong and overwhelming support the USMCA received from both parties in Congress—as well as from labor unions, business organizations, and champions of agriculture—shows just how much this trade agreement will benefit all Americans,” President Trump said in a statement today.
🎬 Secretary Perdue: USMCA changes things by leveling the playing field
Starting today, the USMCA will begin addressing longstanding trade imbalances across American industries. For example, in the automotive sector alone:
75 percent of qualifying vehicles must now be genuinely produced in North America, reducing the motive to outsource parts to low-cost countries
40-45 percent of a vehicle must be built by workers making an average of at least $16 an hour, preserving more jobs for American workers
$34 billion in new automotive manufacturing investments are expected in the United States over the next 5 years
That’s just one industry. USMCA is leveling the playing field for American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and businesses all across our economy, too.
The United States has the best labor force of any country on Earth. Our workers don’t ask for much—only the opportunity to compete fairly for good jobs at honest wages. With NAFTA in the rearview mirror, a new era in American trade begins today.
“I keep my promises,” President Trump says.
See President Trump’s statement on the end of NAFTA.
