Withdrawal from NAFTA would damage Texas’s economy
Abandoning NAFTA would trigger disastrous consequences for Texas workers and businesses throughout the state. Over the past two-decades, NAFTA has powered the growth of Texas’ economy. Almost one million jobs in Texas are supported by trade with Mexico and Canada. In 2015, Texas exported more than $125 billion in goods to Mexico and Canada. This means that the economic activity in Texas is supported by exports to countries like Mexico and Canada.
In San Antonio, Texas, trade is crucial for the city’s well-being, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the city’s economic activity.
In the rail industry, Texas takes a critical role in the supply chain as it serves their customers and makes sure their products move seamlessly throughout the United States. U.S. companies rely on Texas to get their goods from point A to point B safely and on time. Texas’ business depends on trade 42 percent of rail carloads and NAFTA has been a key element in growing that percentage.
Last year, 42,000 employees transported more than 9.7 million units of goods across the United States. With NAFTA, customers gained access to new markets in Canada and Mexico, increasing the number of goods they exported and imported.
Withdrawing from NAFTA would result in new taxes in the form of tariffs levied on goods exported to Mexico and Canada, reducing the competitiveness of U.S. products in Mexican and Canadian markets.
In 2014, NAFTA supported more than 12 million U.S. jobs across all 50 states. In Texas alone, trade with Mexico, its largest partner, supported nearly 400,000 jobs in 2014. And these are comparatively well-paying jobs, with estimates showing that more export-intensive industries pay workers 16 percent more than less export-intensive ones.
The ongoing NAFTA negotiations do provide the opportunity to strengthen and modernize the agreement, bringing it into the 21st century. To ensure NAFTA continues to serve U.S. interests, the country should look to include provisions that promote e-commerce and digital trade, strengthen intellectual property and help businesses of all sizes gain access to Mexican and Canadian markets.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Withdrawal-from-NAFTA-would-damage-Texas-s-12399375
It is interesting that no one in the media or in Washington are talking about the impacts and downfalls of a withdrawal from NAFTA. It seems as if a lot of analysts and politicians are overlooking its impacts. As it says above, millions of jobs are supported by trade with Mexico and Canada and through NAFTA. Without NAFTA, a lot of those jobs would be in danger.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are definitely arguments to be made on the side of withdrawing from it, I believe it is too important to the structure of our trade system and to too many jobs in the southern US. I think rather than withdrawal from it, we could look at altering or changing parts of the agreement that is wrong.
Even during the econ conference, the NAFTA was mentioned and also was evaluated that it's not being discussed very frequently. Some of the states in America is definitely not benefiting from their country withdrawing NAFTA. The government should help those states to ameliorate the losses, in a way that the states will be able to thrive.
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