VIDEO/AUDIO: On Floor of the U.S. House, Spanberger Stressed the Importance of Progress on the USMCA to Her District’s Small Businesses, Manufacturers, & Farms

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today called on House negotiators and the administration to come to a final agreement on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Last month, Spanberger hosted a roundtable on the USMCA and trade with the Chesterfield County Chamber of Commerce and local business owners. During her speech, Spanberger discussed the concerns she heard at the discussion related to the current status of USMCA negotiations. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Virginia exported $4.3 billion of goods to Mexico and Canada in 2018.

Click here to watch her full speech. A full transcript of her remarks is below.

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Canada and Mexico are two of the Commonwealth’s largest trading partners. In 2018 alone, Virginia exported $4.3 billion dollars-worth of goods to our Northern and Southern neighbors.

Last month in Chesterfield County, I sat down with local businesses, business leaders, and members of the Chamber of Commerce to talk about how the USMCA could strengthen export opportunities and spur economic growth for businesses in our area.

Cattlemen and dairies, farmers and producers across my Central Virginia district care deeply about the certainty and stability afforded by a trade deal.

Amid ongoing USMCA discussions, my constituents want and need the long-term certainty of a trade deal between our three countries.

I thank the congressional working group for its productive efforts to arrive at a deal that meets the needs of our farmers, producers, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and American workers.

We need House negotiators and the administration to come to a final agreement. We need to get this done and deliver trade stability for our constituents back home in my Central Virginia district and across the country.

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Spanberger has worked to bring the trade concerns of Central Virginia small businesses and farmers directly to the administration. In a May 2019 meeting with Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney, she advocated on behalf of Virginia businesses as they continue to look for new export opportunities to Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere around the world. During the meeting, they also discussed the potential economic impacts of the USMCA in Virginia’s Seventh District and the financial certainty it could provide.

Additionally, she met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and fellow members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in March 2019 to discuss the state of USMCA negotiations.

Spanberger has also focused on protecting Central Virginia producers and businesses from the negative side-effects of the administration’s trade policies. In September 2019, she successfully pushed House leaders to protect market facilitation payments for Central Virginia farmers following reports of House Democratic leaders attempting to remove the payments from a continuing resolution.

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