Following the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement today, Heritage Foundation policy experts Emilie Kao, Ambassador Terry Miller, and Tori Whiting released this statement:

 

“A strong trade relationship with America’s closest neighbors—Canada and Mexico—is vital to our present and future prosperity. By signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) today, the Trump administration demonstrated its continued commitment to the trilateral relationship and support for an economic trade zone in North America. The agreement includes important changes that focus on ensuring cross-border data and other 21st century trade flows between the countries remain free and open, including a prohibition on data localization rules.

 

“At the same time, the administration and Congress have more work to do to address several issues with USMCA as currently written, including rules of origins provisions, overly intrusive labor provisions, and the inappropriate insertion of sexual orientation and gender identity language. Those provisions have no place in an international trade agreement. We look forward to working with the White House and lawmakers to address these concerns.”

 

Kao is director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, Miller is director of the Center for International Trade and Economics, and Whiting is the Jay Van Andel trade economist at The Heritage Foundation.