WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, a group of 72 bi-partisan congressmen from 23 states submitted a letter to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, expressing concern about American jobs as negotiations over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) continue this week in Mexico City. Representatives Mark Sanford (R-SC), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Mike Bishop (R-MI), and Terri Sewell (D-AL) led the letter.
The letter highlights that the new, proposed rules of origin standard in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would diminish America’s global, competitive advantage in the auto industry.
NAFTA has played a key role in the growth and vitality of the U.S. auto industry. The United States produced one million more cars in 2016 than in 1993, the year before NAFTA took effect. Most economists agree that withdrawing from NAFTA will re-establish trade barriers that will hurt the U.S. economy and cost jobs. More than seven million jobs depend on the U.S. auto industry.
“If the goal of renegotiating NAFTA is to ‘do no harm,’ then tightening the current rules of origin standard, which is already the highest of any trade agreement worldwide, seems like a recipe for disaster,” said Rep. Sanford. “South Carolina has certainly benefited from a more competitive auto industry, courtesy of NAFTA’s encouragement of open trade and investment. The proof is in the growth of BMW’s Spartanburg plant, Mercedes’ expansion to North Charleston, and the new Volvo plant set to open next year in Berkeley County.”
“When you examine the data, there’s no question that NAFTA has helped advance the global competitiveness of the U.S. auto industry sector,” said Governor Matt Blunt, President of the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC). “Now we have an opportunity to strengthen North America as a manufacturing powerhouse with a modern NAFTA that maintains the features that are working and makes improvements to benefit American workers and jobs.”
“NAFTA continues to spur innovation and support high-paying U.S. jobs,” said John Bozzella, President and CEO of the Association of Global Automakers. “Hardworking Americans across the country support their families and communities by working for auto manufacturers across the United States.”
“For constituents in my district and families across the country, the advance of auto manufacturing under NAFTA has meant better-paying jobs, more investment in local communities, and a stronger economy,” said Rep. Sewell. “While NAFTA must be updated to address the challenges our economy faces in the 21st century, I urge this Administration to protect the auto industry and the supply chain that gives our workers and manufacturers a leg up in today’s global marketplace. Disrupting that supply chain could have a devastating impact on auto manufacturers in the South and the families and communities who rely on this industry for jobs.”
"America's 1.1 million dealership employees rely on NAFTA to offer customers a wide selection of safe, affordable new cars and trucks,” said Cody Lusk, the President of the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA). “It’s clear NAFTA is working for the towns and communities served at the 16,700 dealerships across America and helping create more stable, skilled American jobs with each passing year.”
“Our biggest concern is for American workers and customers,” said Jennifer Thomas, Vice President of Federal Affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Pulling out of NAFTA would lead to a decrease in vehicle production, a decline in jobs and an increase in what our customers spend when buying a new vehicle. Not to mention, this would also have an impact on our abilities to export vehicles to foreign markets.”
“NAFTA works by keeping American businesses competitive and hiring here in the U.S,” said Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) Senior Vice President, Government Affairs Ann Wilson. “While we welcome modernization of a 23-year-old agreement, we must strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness by maintaining the robust and open supply chain that has helped fuel the 19 percent increase in motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs we have seen over the last four years.”
The entire auto industry, as well as the greater manufacturing community as a whole, is aligned on this issue. Other groups in support of this letter include the National Association of Manufacturers Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Association of Global Automakers, Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, American International Automobile Dealers Association, and American Automotive Policy Council.
Full text of the letter linked here and below.
Driving American Jobs is a coalition of automotive trade associations, manufacturers, parts suppliers and dealers to safeguard American jobs in the automotive industry. For more information, please visit our webpage at drivingamericanjobs.com, join us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.
The Coalition comprises members of the American Automotive Policy Council, The American International Automobile Dealers Association, The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Association of Global Automakers, and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, who have joined together for the first time in their collective history to defend one of America’s most important trade agreements and the American workers whose jobs depend on trade.
___________________________________________________________
The Honorable Robert Lighthizer
Ambassador
United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:
We have watched with growing concern the negotiations over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Our constituents, many of whom work in the motor vehicle industry, have benefited from more open trade around the world. For the automotive industry in particular, NAFTA has led to increased vehicle production in the United States, more secure jobs for those working in the industry, and a globally competitive U.S. motor vehicle industry that leads the world in innovation.
Last year, 13 automakers manufactured 12.2 million vehicles in the U.S. – over one million more vehicles than were manufactured in the U.S. in the year before NAFTA took effect. The auto sector was the nation’s leading manufactured goods exporter, shipping $137 billion in vehicles and parts to Mexico, Canada and the rest of the world. In 2016, autos represented 8% of the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP on a value-added basis, investing $8 billion in U.S. plants and equipment, and nearly $20 billion in R&D. In total, the U.S. auto industry supports more than 7 million American jobs.
While we agree that NAFTA should be updated to help our companies better address the challenges of the 21st century economy, it should not be terminated. Unfortunately, it appears that several U.S. proposals under discussion in the NAFTA negotiations, including the U.S. motor vehicle rule of origin proposal, would eliminate the competitive advantages provided to the U.S. auto industry under the current NAFTA rules – or lead to rejection by Canada and Mexico and the end of the agreement. Either outcome would adversely affect the U.S. auto industry - reducing sales, production, and exports and harming U.S. workers in the process.
The effort to update NAFTA should not be considered in a vacuum. Our companies and workers in the auto industry face steep international competition for jobs, sales, and innovation. The North American supply chain that NAFTA helped create is essential to the success of American companies in winning that competition. We urge that any proposals you offer, and any agreement you may reach with Canada and Mexico, benefit and strengthen the U.S. motor vehicle industry and the millions of American workers this sector supports.
Sincerely,
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