Noting that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) supports 14 million jobs, including thousands in each of the 50 U.S. states, the trade pact needs to be updated, according to a letter from 36 Republican senators. "Despite all of its benefits, however, we can do better and there are opportunities to improve the agreement," the lawmakers said. "Modernizing NAFTA to increase market access, expand energy exports to maximize domestic energy production and including provisions on intellectual property and e-commerce will make this agreement even more beneficial to the United States."
Noting the recently approved tax reform plan is helping to move the U.S. economy higher, the senators said the "next step to advance the economy requires that we keep NAFTA in place, but modernize it to better reflect our 21st century economy." The letter cites a host of facts and figures on the trade pact's benefits, including that U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada have quadrupled to $38.1 billion in 2016 from $8.9 billion in 1993.