DC Velocity - January 2020

22 DC VELOCITY JANUARY 2020 www.dcvelocity.com Industry leaders were praising lawmakers’ efforts to move the ball forward on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), following a recent compromise on the trade deal between House Democrats and the White House.

Lawmakers said they had agreed on revisions to the deal, including changes that address environmental, labor, and enforcement issues. The USMCA updates and replaces 1994’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Both sides touted the new deal as a win for American workers, and supply chain leaders agreed, pointing to consumer and labor benefits.

“Leading retailers welcome the trade deal agreed to by
our North American neighbors,” Brian Dodge, chief oper-
ating officer and incoming president of the Retail Industry
Leaders Association (RILA), said in a statement. “Retailers
rely on complex global supply chains to ensure customers
have access to the products they desire at the best possible
price. This deal is vitally important to grocers who rely
heavily on trade with Mexico to supply affordable produce
to American families.”
Leaders at the National Retail Federation (NRF) echoed
those sentiments.

“The USMCA takes many important steps to modernize the agreement to reflect today’s global and digital economy,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Industry leaders have pointed to two key provisions that will benefit the economy under the USMCA: zero-tariff requirements for how much of a product must be made or sourced in the United States (part of the agreement’s “rules of origin” requirement) and new rules on e-commerce and the digital economy, which were not addressed under NAFTA. ;