In a letter to the White House, the CEOs of Cargill, Union Pacific, VF Corp., Chubb and other firms warned against harming a pact that they say supports 14 million American jobs and a trading volume of more than $3.5bn daily.
“We encourage the administration to proceed quickly and trilaterally,” they said. “Uncertainty about the future of America’s terms of trade with Canada and Mexico would suppress economic growth and may cause political reactions that undermine U.S. exporters.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in late May sent Congress a letter of intent, triggering the 90-day period that has to elapse before NAFTA renegotiations can start.
The agreement, he said, needed to be improved in the areas of intellectual property rights, digital trade, state-owned enterprises, customs procedures, food safety, workers’ rights and environmental protection. He also indicated that that the administration would seek to preserve the current structure of NAFTA.
