Dear Friends,

This week, the House passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, also known as the USMCA. After years of hard work, the Trump Administration was able to finalize this new trade deal that brings our trade policies into the modern age and is a huge win for our Texas workers, farmers, and manufacturers.

My staff and I have had the opportunity to meet with many of you in Washington, D.C., and back home who have felt the impact of our nation’s bad, outdated trade policies. These businesses, farmers, and manufacturers have seen first hand their jobs and opportunities outsourced to other countries.  As a former small business owner, I know that those jobs aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet--they represent thousands of Texas families and their livelihoods.

Passing the USMCA is a major boost for our economy, and provides more than 176,000 new jobs for American workers. The USMCA puts in place the strongest and most comprehensive labor protection of any trade agreement in American history. It also removes unfair restrictions on America’s farmers so they can sell more products to Mexico and Canada. Finally, the deal’s new rules on intellectual property will better protect our District’s high-tech businesses and innovators.

Our great state of Texas exported over $137 billion to Mexico and Canada last year.  Forty-seven percent of exports from our District, some $3 billion worth of goods, went to Mexico and Canada.  In addition, over half of all trade-related jobs in our District were connected to commerce with our North American partners.

The USMCA is a win for the U.S. economy and Texas families, and it will serve as a new standard for all future U.S. trade deals. I was proud to vote for the deal and I am happy Democrats were finally able to put partisan politics aside in Washington and level the playing field for Texans, and the rest of the nation, so we can continue to grow the U.S. economy and create good-paying careers.

Sincerely,

Kay Granger