Quotable Quotes.

On CUSMA (USMCA)

Thomas J. Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and Carlos Salazar Lomelín, Chairman of Mexico’s Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (Business Coordinating Council) (July 1, 2020)
“The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) enters into force today, July 1. The USMCA preserves and deepens the trade ties between our three countries, providing much needed assurance for the North American economy, which represents 27% of global GDP and 16% of global trade. By providing job creators with the certainty they need to invest, hire, and grow, the agreement will foster prosperity for our societies for years to come.”
U.S. Embassy in Canada
“This 21st Century update to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is the new standard for trade agreements. It will support mutually beneficial trade and economic growth in North America, reinforcing the region’s global competitiveness. The USMCA touches nearly all aspects of North American trade, with new provisions that strengthen intellectual property protections, facilitate digital trade, expand high-paying auto sector jobs, and incorporate enforceable labor and environmental standards.”
Minister Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development (July 7, 2021)
“We made history in 1993 by forging the largest free trade agreement. We had the shared goal of mutual economic prosperity and raising the standards of living for all our people. Since then, trilateral trade has tripled, fostering innovation and creating jobs and economic growth across North America.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce USMCA Coalition Statement (December 17, 2019)
“More than 12 million American jobs depend on trade with Canada and Mexico. U.S. manufacturers export more made-in-America manufactured goods to our North American neighbors than they do to the next 11 largest export markets combined.”
Premier Scott Moe (February 4, 2020)
New trade agreements notwithstanding, protectionist sentiment remains on the rise, Moe acknowledged Wednesday, making it critical to continue to engage with key trading partners on issues both within and outside the USMCA, such as the ever-present softwood lumber dispute.

“This is all the more reason for us — as the province of Saskatchewan and, I would say, as a nation of Canada — that we need to continue to engage with our markets,” he said. “For Saskatchewan, that’s over 150 countries around the world; 55 per cent of our product does go to the U.S. All the more reason for us to be on the ground in those particular areas of interest.”
US President Joe Biden – (Address to Parliament March 2023)
“Our future built is on shared prosperity, where Canada and the United States continue to anchor the most competitive, prosperous, and resilient economic region in the world.”

“Canada and the United States can do big things. We stand together, do them together, rise together.  We’re going to write the future together, I promise you.”

“Our destinies are intertwined and they’re inseparable. Not because of the inevitability of geography, but because it’s a choice — a choice we’ve made again and again.”
Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, Canadian Chamber of Commerce (February 1, 2024)
“Canadians and Americans alike understand the closeness of our bilateral ties, but too often we take it for granted. In these times of global turmoil, it’s critical that Canada reassert the deep, strategic and economic significance of the Canada-U.S. relationship, which is vital to the success of both nations. We can’t afford to sit back—the security and prosperity of our economies depend on it.”

“The United States is our closest neighbour, our largest trading partner, and our most important ally, which is why we strongly support Minister Champagne and Minister Ng’s desire to mobilize Canadian businesses and other groups to increase Canadian engagement with our U.S. counterparts. The Canadian Chamber and its pan-Canadian network of 400 chambers of commerce and boards of trade and more than 200,000 businesses of all sizes, is ready and willing to support these efforts. All parties in government and our business community need to come together on this.”

On the previous NAFTA & Free Trade in General

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue (February 2017)
“Our nations are linked not only by continent, but also by culture, by commerce, and by common interest. We have long shared core values and a commitment to free enterprise, free markets, and open trade. It is no exaggeration to say that the U.S.-Canada relationship has never been stronger than it is today. Our relationship has helped establish North America as the world’s most competitive economic region.”

“Withdrawing from NAFTA would be devastating for the workers, businesses, and economies of our countries.”

“We understand that further integrating our economies will drive benefits on both sides of the border, creating stronger economic growth and greater opportunities for our people. And we know that if we seize opportunities in trade, energy, infrastructure, supply chains, and human capital, we can sharpen our competitiveness in a global economy—and we can be a powerful and positive influence in the world.”
Mack McLarty - former White House Chief of Staff and Special Envoy to the Americas Penny Pritzker – former Secretary of Commerce (LA Times May 17th, 2017)
“NAFTA is wiring that connects and provides power to large parts of the American economy”

“NAFTA deserves much of the credit for transforming North America from a region characterized by suspicion into one where together we can confront transnational security and economic threats.”
Matthey Rooney – Director, Economic Growth – George W. Bush Institute (April 28, 2017)
“NAFTA also creates substantial benefits for all three countries that extend beyond the sphere of trade. NAFTA has driven a process of converging environmental standards, safety regulations, and rules of business ethics that has improved working and living conditions in all three countries. These common standards signal credibility to the rest of the world, which has allowed North America to attract growing levels of international investment since the beginning of NAFTA.”

“Efforts to retreat from the global marketplace will only undercut the gains the U.S. has achieved from free trade, like more affordable consumer goods and the ability to capture competitive gains from specialization across the North American continent”
Former Premier Brad Wall (Speech to Iowa, April 2017)
“Canada and the United States have forged one of the most successful economic partnerships the world has ever seen. Millions of families on both sides of the borders benefit from trade. Now, more than ever, we need to actively promote the advantages of trade and point out the dangers of protectionism. We must be vigilant in protecting our shared prosperity.”
Ambassador Terry Miller - Director of the Center for International Trade and Economics at the Heritage Foundation (February 2017)
“NAFTA is a more substantial agreement and a more significant concern (than TPP). An established arrangement, its provisions are now embedded in the fabric of everyday investment, production, and consumption decisions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

“Casual overthrow of NAFTA rules and regulations could have devastating costs for millions of Americans. That’s not to say that NAFTA shouldn’t be renegotiated. Improvement is possible in many areas. Energy, for example, was deemed too difficult an issue to handle in the 1990s. It might now be ripe for inclusion in an updated NAFTA.”
Senator Ben Sasse (Republican-Nebraska.)
“Scrapping NAFTA would be a disastrously bad idea. It would hurt American families at the check-out, and it would cripple American producers in the field and the office. Yes, there are places where our agreements could be modernized but here’s the bottom line: trade lowers prices for American consumers and it expands markets for American goods. Risking trade wars is reckless, not wise.”
Bloomberg News (May 9, 2017)
NAFTA’s demise and a potential trade spat on the continent would disrupt and possibly cripple that flow, and send manufacturers to seek cheaper supplies overseas, according to Joseph Parilla, a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“If we diminish our competitiveness in a way that makes it more attractive for those supply chains to just fully up and leave North America, that could essentially be the death knell for American manufacturing,” he said.
John F. Kerry - United States Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017
“NAFTA recognizes the reality of today’s economy – globalization and technology. Our future is not in competing at the low-level wage job; it is in creating high-wage, new technology jobs based on our skills and our productivity.”