Business groups launch coalition to pass new NAFTA

A new coalition, spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Manufacturers and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is launching to help secure passage of President Trump’s new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.

USMCA Coalition is made up of over 200 companies and associations that represent farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, service providers and the technology sector, the group announced on Tuesday.

{mosads}The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, also known as the USMCA, is the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement deal. Trump signed it in November, setting off a six-month deadline for Congress to approve it.

“USMCA is critical to the success of American businesses, farmers, and workers,” Cathy Van Way, head of government relations at Cummins Inc., and coalition co-chair, said in a press release.

Another co-chair is Candi Wolff, executive vice president for global government affairs at Citi.

“USMCA has key improvements for the services sector, including a modernized financial services chapter that for the first time prohibits data localization requirements in the region,” she said in the release. “It’s critical that new trade agreements account for the fact that 75% of jobs in the private sector in the U.S. are now in services, and USMCA does that.”

Other co-chairs include Devry Boughner Vorwerk of Cargill, Ryan Modlin of Owens-Illinois, Shane Karr of FCA – North America, Laura Lane of UPS and Tom Glaser of Supply Chain.

Another prominent group pushing for the passage of the trade agreement is Pass USMCA, founded by Trump’s former deputy chief of staff, Rick Dearborn, and made up of business, trade and advocacy groups.

It had 12 members as of last week, including the Household and Commercial Products Association, the International Association of Drilling Contractors, PhRMA, the Washington Council on International Trade, the Canadian American Business Council and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council.

Former Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.) and Gary Locke, the former Democratic governor of Washington and a onetime ambassador to China, are honorary co-chairmen of Pass USMCA.