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The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement “is the most pro-U.S. manufacturing trade agreement in history,” and the parties should work together to preserve this commercially vital agreement—with some targeted changes, the NAM told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week.

What’s going on: “The USMCA is foundational for manufacturing growth here at home. It expands sales opportunities throughout the North American market—and it strengthens our industry’s global competitiveness,” NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain said in Thursday testimony before officials from USTR and the Departments of Commerce, Treasury and State.

• Canada and Mexico purchase more than one-third of all American-made goods exports and provide critical industrial inputs—materials, parts, machinery and equipment—that power American factories, Crain said.

What should be done: The U.S. should preserve and strengthen the USMCA during the agreement’s six-year review next July, Crain said, “while making fine-tuned improvements that support President Trump’s vision of a U.S. manufacturing renaissance,” including:

• Further cutting red tape at the border;
• Promoting greater use of USMCA preferences, including by reducing compliance costs; and
• Addressing unfair competition by Mexico’s state-owned enterprises while shoring up protections for significant American investments in Mexico.

Other actions to be taken: The administration should also “work with our North American partners” on regional economic security issues instead of levying Section 232 tariffs and “engage Canada and Mexico on the U.S. AI Action Plan.”

A useful tool: The administration’s pro-manufacturing agenda “reflects a basic truth: manufacturers in the U.S. can outcompete anyone in the world,” Crain concluded. “And we can use the USMCA to do it.”