Modernizing & Strengthening NAFTA for U.S. Workers & Businesses

Tom Linebarger, Cummins

"American workers, and especially those at Cummins, are already benefiting from global trade."

America's Business Leaders: Modernize NAFTA Now

CEOs urge policymakers to maintain, strengthen, and modernize NAFTA to create more growth and ensure free and fair trade that strengthens our economy.

Mark Costa, Eastman Chemical

"The top priority for policymakers should be maintaining and strengthening NAFTA so American business, workers and consumers can continue to reap the benefits of trade with our two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico."

Rich Lesser, BCG

"When America helps shape trade agreements, you get better agreements for the U.S., but you also get to better agreements for everyone else."

Lisa Davis, Siemens Corp. USA

"It's important we modernize NAFTA by preserving the good parts and bringing it in to the 21st Century."

David Abney, UPS

"We have the opportunity here to create a framework of rules that makes trade cheaper, safer and faster. Which is definitely good for American businesses and American consumers."

Andrew Liveris, Dow

"What we hope is going to happen is that we upgrade NAFTA to modern standards because of course standards have changed. That is what we should be doing with NAFTA."

Evan Greenberg, Chubb

"NAFTA is good for our country. Economically it creates jobs. It improves our competitive profile. And it lowers the cost to consumers. I could think of no better strategy to improve our competitive profile in the world today where more countries are competing against us than to have NAFTA."

NAFTA Benefits

NAFTA & Jobs in Your State

An analysis conducted by Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC finds international trade supports 36 million – nearly 1 in 5 – U.S. jobs, with 11 million of those jobs supported by trade with Canada and Mexico. Interact with the map below to find out how many jobs in your state, along with other economic benefits, are supported by trade with our NAFTA partners. Use these links to learn how a NAFTA termination would impact jobs and exports, and also how international trade supports jobs and economic growth in every state.

Download National Summary PDF

Terminating NAFTA

The Impacts of Terminating NAFTA

A recent study – titled “Terminating NAFTA: The National and State-by-State Impacts on Jobs, Exports and Output” – found that ending NAFTA would re-impose high tariff costs on U.S. exports and imports, which would reduce the competitiveness of U.S. businesses both domestically and abroad, lower U.S. economic output and cause jobs to be lost.

Download National Summary PDF

International Trade

Benefits of International Trade

International Trade and investment supports jobs and economic growth in every state, and now supports nearly 36 million American jobs.U.S. trade-related employment grew nearly four times faster than total employment between 1992 and 2016.

Download National Summary PDF

Addressing Discriminatory Trade & Investment Practices

China engages in discriminatory trade practices, including forced technology transfers and inadequate intellectual property protections, but unilateral tariffs are not the right approach.

Unilaterally imposing tariffs through Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 are putting U.S. businesses, farmers, communities and families at risk, including from foreign retaliatory actions.

To learn more about Business Roundtable’s recommendations for Chinese reforms to address trade and investment barriers, click here.

Tariffs Harm U.S. Workers & Families

Steel and aluminum global overcapacity should be addressed. However, using “national security” arguments under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to restrict imports undermines the United States’ ability to coordinate and institute sustainable trade reform.

Tariffs on steel and aluminum will cost the U.S. more jobs than it will gain in steel and aluminum industries by a ratio of 16 to one, or a net loss of 400,000 total jobs.

More Resources

NAFTA: Modernize and Strengthen to Drive U.S. Growth

A Conversation on Trade and American Competitiveness

Cummins CEO Says NAFTA is Critical to Company’s Success

Business Roundtable Statement on NAFTA Renegotiation

Letter to the President on Modernizing and Strengthening the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Terminating NAFTA: The National and State-by-State Impacts on Jobs, Exports and Output