Industrial Truck Association Supports NAFTA Successes

The Industrial Truck Association (ITA) has pledged its support of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), adding that it is in favor of modernizing and improving it. The association commented that NAFTA has been successful in creating American jobs and contributing to the growth of the U.S. economy.

“NAFTA provides the opportunity for U.S. manufacturers to sell American-made forklifts shipped to Canada and Mexico duty-free,” ITA president Brian Feehan said. “Without NAFTA these products would face substantial tariffs, putting them at a competitive disadvantage with manufacturers from other countries that enjoy duty-free status.” The powered industrial truck (forklift) industry annually exports more than $900 million worth of equipment to Canada and Mexico duty-free under NAFTA, ITA reports. This equates to an annual trade surplus in excess of $400 million.

ITA supports modernizing and improving NAFTA through the elimination of remaining market distortions and barriers in Canada and Mexico; raising standards to U.S. levels with respect to science-based regulatory practices, transparency, competition, and the protection of private property and intellectual property; updating the agreement to include new digital trade provisions important to small manufacturers and those creating and relying on new technologies; and removing unnecessary red tape at the border and duplicative regulations that are holding manufacturers back.

“The U.S. economy is growing, tax reform is providing confidence for business investments, and unemployment is low,” said Feehan. “NAFTA remains an important component to maintaining this momentum. NAFTA can and should continue to help grow high-paying American jobs, expand the nation’s manufacturing, and improve its global competitiveness.”

He noted that the agreement was founded 23 years ago, before major technological and energy innovations helped transform what and how the U.S. manufactures today.

While U.S. negotiators sought to level the playing field fully in the original NAFTA, barriers and weaker standards remain in both Canada and Mexico.

(SOURCE: The Weekly Propane Newsletter)