Modernize NAFTA, don't ditch it

The North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations have reached a critical point. It is time for the U.S. to make clear we are committed to staying in a new and improved deal that helps drive more economic growth in the U.S.

Negotiators from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have been meeting since last week in Montreal for the sixth round of talks, to discuss many unresolved issues. Adding to the urgency of this round is a looming self-imposed March deadline to finish the talks.

With NAFTA, the stakes for America’s economy and workers are incredibly high. Following the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership last January, the NAFTA modernization talks became our first and best opportunity to create a modern free trade agreement that reflects the transformative changes that have occurred in our economy over the past quarter-century, particularly in the area of digital trade. Since NAFTA negotiations began last August, however, there have been many worrying signs from the administration about whether the U.S. is truly committed to remaining a part of the pact.

There is no doubt that the agreement needs an update. When it took effect 24 years ago, no one could have predicted the extent to which digital trade would become the cornerstone of the modern economy. Since then, the internet has opened markets once out of reach to the local American entrepreneur, torn down barriers to entry that prevented small businesses from growing beyond their communities, and facilitated the transfer of data, goods, and services at speeds once unimaginable. Between 2005 and 2014 alone, global cross-border data flows grew by 45 times, generating $2.8 trillion in economic value in 2014 — a greater impact on world GDP than global trade in goods.

Considering the impact of these new technologies, we welcomed the Trump Administration’s decision to come to the negotiating table in order to strengthen the agreement and bring it into the 21st century. At the same time, for all the improvements that can be made to NAFTA going forward, the value it has already generated for the U.S. economy is impossible to ignore, and an important reason why we should not exit the deal.