Press Release

State Legislators Applaud the Administration on Signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) into Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Alexis Jarrett
740-334-0993 | AJarrett@alec.org

 

State Legislators Applaud the Administration on Signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) into Law

18 states introduced or passed resolutions of support

ARLINGTON, VA (January 29, 2020) Today, with national leaders and state legislators by his side, President Trump signed into law the implementing legislation for USMCA—a modernization of the 1994 North America Free Trade Agreement. Throughout the trade agreement debate, state legislatures have been instrumental in indicating broad-based support for the renegotiated agreement. Over the past year, 18 states introduced or passed resolutions supporting USMCA.

“The new trade framework is a vast improvement over NAFTA,” said ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson. “With all but one state counting Canada or Mexico as a top-three trading partner, USMCA will create thousands of new American jobs and spur billions of dollars of economic growth across the states.”

Present at today’s signing were Iowa Representative Linda Upmeyer and South Carolina Representative Alan Clemmons—both served as ALEC National Chairs and were instrumental in advancing state support for USMCA.

“ALEC was among the first to applaud the strength of USMCA’s original intellectual property (IP) chapter – the most comprehensive of any multilateral agreement in history,” said Karla Jones, ALEC Sr. Director for International Relations. “And while IP provisions were substantially weakened during the negotiation process between the Administration and Congress, this deal will benefit other sectors including manufacturing and agriculture and the American economy overall.”

In 2017, ALEC members recognized the need to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by adopting model policy calling for the Agreement’s modernization. Once USMCA was negotiated, ALEC adopted new model policy urging swift Congressional approval. 18 state legislatures considered and 11 adopted legislation calling on Congress to approve USMCA.

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The American Legislative Exchange Council is the largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators in the United States. The Council is governed by state legislators who comprise the Board of Directors and is advised by the Private Enterprise Advisory Council, a group of private, foundation and think tank members. For more information about the American Legislative Exchange Council, please visit: www.alec.org.

 

 

 


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