The evidence is clear: USMCA works

Remarks delivered by Goldy Hyder to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) regarding the review and renewal of the USMCA.

My name is Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada. 

We represent the leaders of Canada’s largest companies, many of whom invest billions, and operate, manufacture, and employ millions of workers – both directly and indirectly – across the United States. 

Last year alone, U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico hit a record 1.93 trillion dollars.  

That’s more than the U.S. trades with China, Japan, South Korea, and the UK combined. 

According to the U.S. Business Roundtable, trade with Canada and Mexico supports nearly 13 million American jobs. 

The lives and livelihoods of American, Mexican and Canadian workers, farmers, entrepreneurs, and their families depend on the USMCA – an agreement which has benefited all three countries. 

That is why I asked to appear here today. 

Extending the USMCA is, of course, important to Canada.  

But it is also crucial to American prosperity, American competitiveness, and American security. 

The agreement has delivered – despite a global pandemic, supply chain shocks, and a more volatile global economy. 

• U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico have risen steadily.  

• Investment has expanded.  

• North American manufacturing has become more resilient. 

The evidence is clear: USMCA works.  

The question is how to make it work even better. 

The leaders who negotiated this agreement wisely built in a review.  

This is that moment. And we must seize it. 

A stronger USMCA should follow two guiding principles. 

First: it should deepen commercial ties and cross-border investment between all three countries. 

Second: it must recognize that while governments negotiate trade agreements, it is businesses that bring them to life. 

Businesses invest when there is certainty. 

USMCA gives us certainty. 

The review of USMCA must preserve and prolong that certainty.  

To do so, a renewed USMCA should ensure greater public-private consultation, not only every six years but continuously. 

A simple, common-sense improvement would be to add private-sector representatives to key USMCA committees, including the Committee on Good Regulatory Practices and the Competitiveness Committee. 

Moreover, the mandates of those committees should be simplified.  

Too often they have overlapping responsibilities or stray into issues unrelated to competitiveness or eliminating regulatory burden. 

Let the committees focus on what matters: harmonizing rules, speeding up regulatory alignment, and reducing friction for North American businesses. 

To supplement and complement that work, we recommend creating two new joint public-private committees. 

First: We should create a North American Energy Committee 

It would develop a shared vision, so our abundant energy resources, critical minerals, technologies, and trade-enabling infrastructure become a continental advantage, not a mismatched patchwork. 

Second: We should create a North American Economic Security Committee. 

It would assess risks, coercive trade practices, supply chain disruptions, and cyber threats, then develop strategies to coordinate our responses. 

Today, the concept of “security” in the USMCA text is about exempting us from obligations. It should instead be a basis for collective action. 

Finally, an important point for productivity: 

U.S. companies operate across borders as highly integrated networks – but under current rules, workers can be temporarily transferred only if they are executives, managers, or specialized staff. 

We recommend creating a trusted employer program allowing qualified companies to temporarily transfer any employee between the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, with the employer being responsible for that employee returning home after a defined period or defined task. 

Let me end where I began. 

The USMCA works for the United States. It works for Canada. It works for Mexico. 

This review is about strengthening the world’s most successful trading partnership and ensuring that North America competes – and wins – in the global economy. 

Our job now is simple: extend it, improve it, and protect the prosperity it creates for workers, farmers and families in all three countries. 

Thank you.  I’m pleased to answer any questions you might have.