OMA Urges Congressional Delegation to Support NAFTA Replacement

This week, the OMA urged Ohio’s federal representatives to support approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, the 1994 deal that removed most tariffs and other trade barriers between the three countries.

In a letter sent to all 18 members of Ohio’s congressional delegation, OMA President Eric Burkland noted that in 2017, Ohio manufacturers sold $27 billion of manufactured goods to Canada and Mexico, and that more than 3,800 Ohio manufacturers export to Canada and Mexico.

Burkland wrote that passing the agreement will “strengthen and modernize America’s innovation engine by including best-in-class intellectual property rules,” while leveling the playing field between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The jobs of nearly 103,000 Ohio manufacturing workers depend on exports to Canada and Mexico, and that without the USMCA, Ohio’s manufactured goods exports to Canada and Mexico could face as much as $3.1 billion in extra taxes (compared to zero tariffs today). 4/24/2019