Ending NAFTA would hurt U.S. industry, chemical makers say

As talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) continued in Mexico City last week, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) warned that a U.S. withdrawal from the trade pact with Mexico and Canada would significantly harm the U.S. chemical industry. Without NAFTA, U.S. chemical exports to the other two nations would face a tariff burden of up to $9 billion per year, raising prices for manufacturers and consumers alike, says an economic analysis released by ACC, an industry trade group. Then Canada and Mexico would likely turn to lower-cost imports from China to satisfy their demand for chemicals and plastics, the report says. “NAFTA has protected the U.S. and our investors from extreme tariff uncertainty for more than two decades,” says Emily Sanchez, ACC’s director of economics and data analytics. “Without those protections in place, tariff rates could rise dramatically, creating a domino effect that puts American businesses, investment, and jobs at risk.” U.S. President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull out of NAFTA unless the 24-year-old deal can be reworked in a way that is more favorable to the U.S.