Following successful U.S.-Mexico negotiations to preliminarily update the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) wants assurance for his home-state constituents from the Trump administration that Canada will be included in any final NAFTA deal.
“I fully support continued negotiations and urge you to make certain a final agreement includes Canada to avoid major market disruptions that would harm Kansans,” Sen. Moran wrote in an Aug. 28 letter sent to President Donald Trump.
The Kansas senator said the state is export-dependent and North American markets are especially important.
In 2017, for example, Sen. Moran said Canada was the top market for Kansas, accounting for more than 22 percent of all exports. Canada and Mexico together rank as the top two export markets for Kansas, he said, regularly accounting for a combined one-third and more of overall exports.
“NAFTA has also resulted in integrated North American supply chains that rely on a free flow of goods and products across the continent,” the senator wrote. “Many jobs in Kansas, including those in the agriculture, aerospace, automobile and other manufacturing industries, would be threatened should these supply chains be disrupted or export markets be diminished.”
Sen. Moran applauded Trump for reaching a preliminary U.S.-Mexico agreement to revamp NAFTA, noting that “any agreement that has been in place for decades should be reviewed and modernized.”
And while the preliminary agreement with Mexico is a significant step forward in updating NAFTA, he said, “it is critical to Kansans that Canada be included in any final agreement presented to Congress for approval,” he added.
“Trade with Canada and Mexico has clearly benefited Kansans, and a modernized NAFTA, or re-named trilateral agreement, can present increased economic opportunity and growth to Kansas and the country,” the lawmaker wrote.
Comparatively, Sen. Moran also pointed out that any forthcoming agreement that would exclude Canada could “unfortunately be a significant step in the wrong direction compared to the trilateral agreement in place today.”