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AF&PA Applauds U.S. Senate for Ratifying USMCA Trade Agreement

CONTACT: Lindsay Murphy
(202) 463-2436, comm@afandpa.org

WASHINGTON – American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock praised the Senate for ratifying the U.S. – Mexico – Canada (USMCA) trade agreement and issued the following statement: 

“Free and fair cross-border trade took an important step forward today with United States Senate approval of the USMCA – action we applaud. Long overdue revisions to the twenty-five-year-old trade agreement – including commitments to promoting sustainable forest management and legal trade in forest products – will further competition, economic growth and job creation. 

“Today’s action on USMCA preserves free and fair trade in North America and ensures existing supply chains that extend across the region are strengthened. We call for the swift implementation of the USMCA.” 

Additional Background

Total pulp and paper U.S. exports to Mexico and Canada support 88,000 direct and indirect American jobs and in 2018 amounted to $10.1 billion or 44 percent of the industry’s total exports.  

 

 

 

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030