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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is strongly lobbying to tweak \u2013 not trash \u2013 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA.) And it\u2019s not just transport companies who are leading the charge within the Chamber, U.S. Business Roundtable and other Washington lobbyist heavyweights, <\/span><\/strong>reports\u00a0Logistics Management Magazine<\/span><\/p>\n

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A<\/span>fter<\/strong> fruitless talks south of the border, negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico head north of the border to Montreal this month to try and work out snags that have stalled modernization attempts on the largest trade agreement affecting the three North American companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Imagine your\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Ad<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0placed\u00a0here<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is strongly lobbying to tweak \u2013 not trash \u2013 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA.) And it\u2019s not just transport companies who are leading the charge within the Chamber, U.S. Business Roundtable and other Washington lobbyist heavyweights.<\/span><\/p>\n

But since the talks opened in August, the Trump administration \u2013 to the chagrin of many trucking executives \u2013 has been playing hardball in its \u201cAmerica First\u201d approach to the negotiations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Specifically, U.S. representatives are pushing for a hard fixed percentage of \u201cMade in America\u201d parts and raw materials for many industries, including automotive and textile. Opponents say that is futile and point to the 400% growth in cross-border trade since NAFTA was implemented 24 years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Donald J. Trump has said he is \u201cpsyched\u201d to sever the popular pact among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. But transport executives, free trade advocates and most of the U.S. business community is madly trying to talk him out of anything like that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Already, U.S. negotiators have stuck seemingly worthless language regarding Mexican trucks operating in this country into their demands. Specifically, they want to limit Mexican carriers\u2019 ability to operate in this country, saying it does \u201cmaterial harm\u201d to U.S. carriers and suppliers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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One quick look at some statistics will show how ludicrous that argument is. According to the DOT, there are only 38 Mexican-domiciled carriers with operating authority in this country. Those carriers have fewer than 400 trucks and less than 500 drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

By comparison, there are more than 700,000 American trucking companies with more than 7 million truck drivers already operating in this country in an industry responsible for 5 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just trucking playing defense. \u00a0Textile and apparel executives and their U.S. workers are nervously eyeing the ongoing negotiations to modernize the agreement. Concerns around possible job losses in this sector are running high and rising.<\/span><\/p>\n

While modernizing the 23-year-old NAFTA makes sense, its backers say withdrawing from the agreement would be a blow for the United States \u2014 one that would hit some states particularly hard. Ironically, those likely to suffer most would be Midwestern industrial states, heartland farm states, and border states like Texas and Arizona \u2014 nearly all of which voted to elect President Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you had read those statements in the mid-1980s, you might assume the textile sector was hoping trade talks would unravel, due to threats of foreign competition. Some still believe that to be the case, but they are mistaken.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that the textile and apparel industry needs NAFTA,\u201d the Chamber said in a note to its members. \u201cAnd needs it badly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What a difference a generation makes, the Chamber says. To understand why NAFTA helps the U.S. textile and apparel industry compete, you need only understand one number: 97.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is the percentage of clothes that are purchased every year by Americans and produced offshore. We still make clothes here in the United States \u2014 primarily for fast turns, for the military, and for special programs \u2014 and we always will. But the bulk of our clothing is sewn offshore.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Asian countries own a good chunk of that 97%. Six of our top ten clothing suppliers are in Asia with China leading the way at about 40% market share. But the other four top suppliers are in the Western Hemisphere, and they include Mexico \u2014 one of two NAFTA partners.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a good thing because clothing made in Mexico, and shipped back to the United States under NAFTA, contains a high amount of U.S. content. \u00a0And obviously, all those shipments back and forth across the border are good for transports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mexico has emerged as a top U.S. export market for U.S. textiles. More than one-third of all U.S. yarn and fabric exports are sent to Mexico, where many of them are incorporated into clothing. If we add in Canada, that number jumps to nearly 50%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scuttling NAFTA will unravel many of these Western Hemisphere supply chains, backers say, threatening hundreds of thousands of America\u2019s textile and apparel jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n

But jacking up NAFTA\u2019s content requirements in a mistaken bid to induce even more U.S. content into these supply chains would also threaten American jobs. Well-documented auto industry concerns \u2014 that higher content requirements will lead to less, not more U.S. content \u2014 are mirrored in the textile and apparel industry as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other proposals envision linking NAFTA up with other hemispheric partners so that the trade agreements would mirror how the industry views this part of the world \u2014 as one integrated region. Such ideas are key to ensuring NAFTA is successful for many years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration wants to increase the amount of U.S. and regional content in NAFTA trade, but we must look at this more holistically and ask instead how we can increase NAFTA trade overall,\u201d the Chamber wrote in a white paper on NAFTA.<\/span><\/p>\n

The distinction is critical, the Chamber says. That\u2019s because if the U.S. settles for increasing content in NAFTA autos, textile and apparel trade, but that NAFTA trade drops due to the more burdensome requirements, the U.S. economy loses in the long run–and quite likely in the short run too.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, does the U.S. want a bigger piece of an ever-shrinking pie, or do we want the pie to get bigger? Negotiators are working on that issue currently.<\/span><\/p>\n

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