The American Chemistry Council (ACC) issues the following statement in response to the announcement of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which would replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA):
“ACC commends negotiators from the U.S., Canada and Mexico for agreeing to update a trade pact that has historically leveraged chemical manufacturing and the highly-integrated North American supply chain to reduce costs, boost U.S. exports and inject new growth and job-creation throughout the region.
“The pact appears to include several enhancements long sought-after by the U.S. chemical sector. For example, ACC strongly supports the inclusion of the final Sectoral Annex for Chemical Substances, which embraces the principles the North American chemical industry jointly recommended to enhance Regulatory Cooperation. ACC and its members need more time to review the provisions in greater detail so that we can assess the impact that the agreement would have on our industry.
“The U.S. chemical sector has capitalized on duty-free trade under NAFTA ever since its inception, more than tripling U.S. chemicals exports to Canada and Mexico – from $13 billion in 1994 to $44 billion in 2018. Approximately 46,000 U.S. chemical jobs now depend on trade with Canada and Mexico. And due to the chemical industry’s early position in the supply chain, U.S. chemical manufacturers have exploited the cost savings from duty-free trade with Mexico and Canada in order to power growth throughout the supply chain and lower prices for manufacturers and consumers.”
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