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National Restaurant Association applauds US trade deal with Canada, Mexico

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January 30, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a trade deal Wednesday that replaces 1994's North American Free Trade Agreement. The pact — known as the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement —  ends what the president called the "worst" U.S. trade deal in history and includes working procedures for more than $1 trillion in trade annually in North America.

Although Canada, Mexico and the U.S. came to agreement on the measure in 2018, Canada has yet to ratify the final deal. 

Speaking for some of the U.S.'s restaurateurs, Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of Public Affairs of the National Restaurant Association, was positive about the news. 

"USMCA will help ensure that restaurants can maintain a stable global supply chain and continue to provide nutritious, creative and affordable choices for American families. We are grateful to congress and the president for their work, along with our trading partners, to achieve and implement this important bipartisan agreement," Kennedy said in a statement released by the NRA. 

Although the new deal contains much of what was in the NAFTA agreement, it also sets standards for digital trade between the nation and increases Canadian dairy market access to the U.S and 

The U.S. Department of Labor also said the deal calls for the U.S. to give more than $27 million in grant money to Mexico for enforcement of certain labor laws, including those governing the use of children in agricultural labor.