DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Rene Dominguez
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Consideration for adoption of a resolution supporting the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), an update to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
SUMMARY:
Approval of a resolution expressing support for the USMCA due to the positive economic impact that the multinational trade agreement will have on the local economy, on par or greater than the economic impact that NAFTA has generated. On November 30, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Enrique Pe?a Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the USMCA. Legislatures of all three countries must ratify the agreement before implementation.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
NAFTA, the original treaty between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, has been in effect since January 1, 1994. Some of the key NAFTA provisions include open markets, reduced tariffs, rules of origin, foreign investment incentives, intellectual property rights protection, government procurement opportunities, and dispute resolution. Labor and environmental provisions were included in separate NAFTA side agreements.
San Antonio hosted the leaders of the three countries in 1993 for the formal signing of NAFTA. San Antonio is also home to the North American Development Bank (NADBank), facilitated by passage of NAFTA. Further, Canada and Mexico are key components of our international economic development strategy to increase foreign direct investment, exports, and global collaborations. The City of San Antonio maintains a trade office in Mexico City (Casa San Antonio) and has official Sister City relationships with Monterrey and with Guadalajara.
According to a report by the City's economist, Dr. Steve Nivin, from 1994 through 2016, NAFTA created 63,204 direct jobs in the San Antonio economy. These direct jobs paid incomes of about $3.8 billion and added $5.1 billion i...
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