ISSA Joins North American Trade Coalition

This month, ISSA joined the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Coalition, a group of more than 400 U.S. companies and associations who are working to secure congressional approval of the trade agreement.

Coalition members include Dow Chemical Co.; Ecolab Inc.; Procter & Gamble, parent company of Procter & Gamble Professional; Clorox Co., parent company of Clorox Professional Products Co.; the American Chemistry Council; the National Association of Chemical Distributors; the National Association of Manufacturers; the National Small Business Association; and the Society of Chemical Manufacturers.

The agreement aims to “rebalance” NAFTA to “improve U.S. opportunities to trade with Canada and Mexico.” It addresses the need for modernization with “new protections for U.S. intellectual property, ensuring opportunities for trade in U.S. services, new chapters covering digital trade, anticorruption, and good regulatory practices. It also ensures that small- and medium-sized enterprises,” whose “top two export destinations are Mexico and Canada,” “benefit from the agreement.” At the same time, USMCA would not lose the key NAFTA tenant that “guarantees that virtually all U.S. exports [would] enter [Canada and Mexico] tariff-free.”

ISSA supports the USMCA as it will ensure manufacturers and distributors of cleaning chemicals, products, and equipment can continue to access the Canadian and Mexican markets. As a new member of the coalition, ISSA will be actively involved in congressional outreach, communications, and grassroots activities with the other coalition members to pursue approval for USMCA.

“We believe that working with a large group of diverse companies and associations is important to advancing policies important to the cleaning industry such as USMCA,” said John Nothdurft, director of government affairs for ISSA.