PHOENIX (November 30, 2018) – Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President and CEO Glenn Hamer issued the following statement upon the signing of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement—the USMCA—by each country’s head of state:
“This is a good day for North America. The signing of the USMCA by each country preserves and modernizes the trilateral trade relationship that has made North America the globe’s most competitive region for the last nearly quarter century.
“Now each country’s legislative branches must begin the ratification process, which should be the top priority for the U.S. Congress when it returns to work in 2019. A failure to swiftly take up the implementing legislation risks rattling investor confidence and could weaken the overall economy. The executive branch has done its job, now it’s time for the House and Senate to do theirs.
“Despite the excellent progress that has been made on the USMCA, the imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs and the threat of additional tariffs on auto imports are still a self-inflicted drag on the U.S. economy. After having done so much to increase the country’s global competitiveness by dramatically reducing the corporate income tax rate in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, slapping tariffs on critical inputs in the manufacturing process or on foreign autos only causes prices to rise and hurts domestic producers and U.S. consumers. The steel and aluminum tariffs on our friends Mexico and Canada should be removed as soon as possible and any threats of auto tariffs should be taken off the table.”
Mr. Hamer will be in Mexico through the weekend for ceremonies attached to the inauguration of the new Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and is available for comment.
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