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November 20, 2017      5:37 PM

Texas Business leaders tell Congress NAFTA should be strengthened, not scrapped

“Texas will be a loser if the United States elects to pull out of NAFTA” TAB CEO Moseley said; TXOGA, auto manufacturers, local chambers and others line up with Cornyn in push to “modernize” the pact while Trump talks about canceling it

SAN ANTONIO – Facing uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump’s talk of scrapping the North American Free Trade Agreement, Texas business leaders on Monday asked Sen. John Cornyn to do everything in his power as the number two member of the Senate to keep the three-nation pact strong while making updates to the 24-year-old deal.

Cornyn said his message to the White House has been consistent: “First, do no harm.” It’s a difficult balance to strike, though, given the fact that President Trump has repeatedly called NAFTA the “worst trade deal ever made” in his appeals to Rust Belt voters who put him over the top in the Electoral College. As recently as August, Trump said it may be time to “terminate” it.

The world is now in a digital economy and the energy sector has changed dynamically over the last couple decades, leading Cornyn and others to argue NAFTA needs “modernization,” not cancellation.

By Kimberly Reeves and Scott Braddock

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