Office of the Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued the following announcement on March 5.
Arizona’s international trade relationships remain vital to our state’s economy, especially with our strongest trading partners Mexico and Canada.
Implemented in 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established an innovative trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Since then, North American trade increased from $291 billion to over $1.1 trillion in 2017. For Arizona, exports to Mexico grew from $2.4 billion to $7.6 billion over the same time period, an increase of 293 percent.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) updates and modernizes current trade agreements with Mexico and Canada, allowing Arizona to build on those critical trade relationships.
In 2017:
- Arizona exported $7.5 billion in goods to Mexico and $2.2 billion in goods to Canada.
- Between our North American neighbors, trade with Mexico and Canada had a combined economic impact of $19 billion on our state.
- Trade with Mexico and Canada supported over 236,000 jobs in Arizona.
- Arizona’s top exports to Mexico and Canada included: Computer and Electronic Products and Electrical Equipment, Appliances and Components.
"While the North American Free Trade Agreement was a historic agreement and visionary for its time, it is nearly 25 years old. The business world has evolved tremendously during that time, but our trade policies have not kept up," Governor Ducey stated in the letter. "As we seek to secure Arizona’s economic future, a strong trade deal with Mexico and Canada is crucial. I urge you to work with your colleagues in Congress to move towards ratification of the USMCA as quickly as possible."
The USMCA was signed by President Trump and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts in November of 2018. View the letter from Governor Ducey HERE.
Original source can be found here.