Florida Chamber of Commerce Applauds Passage of USMCA Trade Agreement
“Florida Wins with USMCA Trade Agreement”
Tallahassee, Fla. (December 19, 2019) – Selling more Florida goods and services around the world is vital to creating jobs, and helping local businesses grow Florida’s economy from the 17th largest in the world to the 10th largest. Today’s passage of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) will help preserve and strengthen U.S. trade ties to Canada and Mexico – two of Florida’s top six countries for Florida-origin exports.
“With more than 2.5 million high-wage Florida jobs depending on international trade, the Florida Chamber of Commerce commends the Trump Administration and Congress for reaching a path forward for USMCA. This bipartisan effort will benefit Florida’s agriculture industry, manufacturers and local businesses, and will help grow Florida’s $57 billion exports of goods and $43 billion in exports of services,” said Bob Grammig, Chair, Florida Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Division, and Partner, Holland & Knight. “The Florida Chamber’s International Trade Division will continue fighting to strengthen Florida’s position as a global trade leader and will continue working to ensure Florida’s exports in goods double and exports in services triple by 2030.”
Data from TheFloridaScorecard.org shows just how important trade is to Florida’s economy:
“Today marks an important step towards finally updating and modernizing the 25-year-old North American trade deal, which supports nearly $1.3 trillion in economic activity and more than 12 million American jobs. International trade is critical to Florida, where exports and imports support 2.3 million jobs. Leveling the playing field for Florida and the rest of the nation, as well as increasing access to foreign markets is critical to growing the U.S. economy and creating good-paying jobs.” said U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, Past Chair of the Florida Chamber.
In uniting Florida’s business community for good, the Florida Chamber stood up for local businesses in supporting USMCA in the halls of Congress, on editorial pages and in letters to lawmakers, and we’re committed to ensure protecting this important economic engine.
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Established in 1916 as Florida’s first statewide business advocacy organization, the Florida Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business and the state’s largest federation of employers, chambers of commerce and associations aggressively representing small and large businesses from every industry and every region. The Florida Chamber works within all branches of government to affect those changes set forth in the annual Florida Business Agenda, and which are seen as critical to secure Florida’s future. The Florida Chamber works closely with its Florida Political Operations and the Florida Chamber Foundation. Visit www.FloridaChamber.com for more information.
136 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301