Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) president Dennis Slater issued the following statement Dec. 10 hailing a deal struck between House Democrats and the Trump Administration to move the USMCA closer to ratification:

"This is good news for equipment manufacturers, the 1.3 million men and women of our industry, and the entire U.S. economy," said Dennis Slater, president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

"We're another step closer to getting the USMCA ratified. Getting this across the finish line will preserve duty-free market access to our most important trade partners, add more than $68 billion to the U.S. economy, and create 176,000 U.S. jobs. We applaud the work done by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and everyone involved in these negotiations. We look forward to Congress ratifying the agreement and President Trump signing it into law."

Since the creation of NAFTA two decades ago, equipment manufacturers have benefited greatly from duty-free market access to our industry's two largest export markets, Canada and Mexico. Equipment manufacturers support 1.3 million jobs in the United States and 149,000 in Canada. The industry also contributes $188 billion to the U.S. and Canadian economies.

Over the past two years, AEM has called on both the Trump Administration and Congress to deliver an updated North American trade agreement for the 21st century. USMCA fulfills many of our industry's goals and strengthens North American equipment manufacturing. Efforts include co-hosting the Honorable Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, at an equipment manufacturing facility earlier this year in support of the agreement, sending a letter in support of the USMCA to Chairman Neal (D-Mass.) and the nine members of the House Democrats' Trade Working Group, and running an ongoing public education campaign on the various benefits of a ratified USMCA. AEM also is a member of the USMCA Coalition.

For more information, visit www.aem.org/advocacy.

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