Hundreds of Business Leaders Call on Trump to Stick with NAFTA
Hundreds of Business Leaders Call on Trump to Stick with NAFTA
“The business community finally recognizes that NAFTA is at risk. This is not a drill,” said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth.
Hundreds of business leaders from all 50 states have joined forces to increase pressure on President Donald Trump to remain in NAFTA.
In a letter signed by more than 310 state and local chambers of commerce, the business leaders urged Trump to update and improve, but not end, the 23-year-old trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada that, the leaders say, has contributed to $1.2 trillion annually in trade...
“We recognize that this agreement is a quarter century old. It makes sense to modernize it,” said Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. “But for the love of God don’t do any harm to something that has been so economically beneficial to states all across America."
As negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico prepare to kick off a fourth round of talks on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., a feud broke out last week between Trump and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the size of the stakes came into sharp focus....
...Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Washington-based Council of the Americas, said it’s about time that the business community has gotten more involved. Business leaders need to make their voices heard at this critical stage, he said, but it’s unclear whether the Trump administration will listen.
“The business community finally recognizes that NAFTA is at risk,” Farnsworth said. “This is not a drill....”