October 22, 2019

The Honorable Elizabeth Warren, US Senator The Honorable Stephen Lynch, US Representative The Honorable Ed Markey, US Senator The Honorable Seth Moulton, US Representative The Honorable Katherine Clark, US Representative The Honorable Richard Neal, US Representative The Honorable William Keating, US Representative The Honorable Jim McGovern, US Representative The Honorable Joseph Kennedy III, US The Honorable Ayanna Pressley, US Representative Representative The Honorable Lori Trahan, US Representative

United State Senate United State House of Representative US Capitol US Capitol Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515

Dear Members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation,

On behalf of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, I am writing to ask you to support the US-Mexico- Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA). This agreement modernizes trade relations between the three countries while ensuring that goods continue to flow across North America without harmful tariffs. Recognizing the importance of trade with our North American neighbors, Congress should approve USMCA as soon as possible.

International trade is key to the continued success of the Massachusetts and Greater Boston economies. In 2017, international exports of over $50 billion in goods and services supported over 369,000 jobs in Massachusetts.1 More than 10,000 Massachusetts businesses exported from Massachusetts in 2015, including 9,193 small and medium-sized companies.2 Furthermore, from 2007 to 2017, Massachusetts exports to NAFTA countries alone grew by $1.031 billion. Contrary to the belief that free trade agreements have destroyed American jobs, trade between the three NAFTA nations supports 14 million U.S. jobs.3 These numbers demonstrate the importance of preserving the free trade bloc in North America through adoption of USMCA.

The USCMA will do more than maintain the free trade bloc created by NAFTA; it will modernize the trade relationship between the US, Canada, and Mexico. The way the world conducts business has changed significantly since NAFTA was signed in 1993. New digital trade provisions are among the most important updates because they will guarantee the movement of data across borders, which will allow for continued growth of the digital economy in North America.

USMCA will also allow for the continued movement of workers across borders. John Hancock, SunLife Financial, TD Bank, and MFS Investment Management are all Canadian-owned companies with a large presence in Massachusetts that rely on temporary entry for Canadian businesspeople and vice versa. Other important improvements include modernization of intellectual property regulations to protect US innovation, new labor standards that will increase the competitiveness of American manufacturers, new customs procedures that will make it easier for small business to conduct international trade, and increased access to Canadian markets for American dairy farmers.

Companies in all three NAFTA countries have spent the past 25 years working together and integrating their supply chains. As a result, on average, U.S. imports from Canada contain 25 percent American content and imports from Mexico contain 40 percent American content.4 Approving USMCA will ensure that all three economies continue to benefit from an alliance that has promoted economic growth across North America.

Thank you for your consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

James E. Rooney President & CEO

1 Brookings, Export Monitor 2018, April 2018. 2 International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, Massachusetts Exports, Jobs, & Foreign Investment, February 2018. 3 US Chamber of Commerce, The Facts on NAFTA, 2017. 4 US Chamber of Commerce, The Facts on NAFTA, 2017.