Passage of Legislation will Help Cities Grow Their Economies & Increase Jobs

Washington, DC—Below is a statement from Bryan K. Barnett, President of the United States Conference of Mayors and Mayor of Rochester Hills (MI) on today’s passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“The nation’s mayors applaud the House passage of the reworked USMCA, the new trade deal for North America. U.S. metro areas play a critical role in American exports and we believe this agreement stands to make our country stronger and serves as a boost to businesses and local economies across the country.

“This is an agreement that businesses, unions, farmers, Republicans and Democrats all played a role in negotiating and we applaud its approval in a resounding, refreshing and much welcome bipartisan fashion. USMCA is widely considered to be an improvement over NAFTA, with businesses valuing the certainty the agreement provides and workers’ rights advocates appreciating USMCA addressing Mexican Labor Law reform. We are pleased that the extensive negotiations between Speaker Pelosi and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Lighthizer have yielded a stronger agreement that sets a new standard for trade accords.

“Mayors have continually called for the bipartisan spirit that guided these discussions and made this agreement possible.  We encourage the Senate to follow suit and quickly bring the legislation to a vote in the New Year.”