Margaret Cekuta

USMCA, the updated North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is critical for U.S. economic security. It has resulted in $775 billion invested in the United States by Mexico and Canada, 55% more investment than before USMCA came into effect in 2020—despite COVID. USMCA makes North America an attractive cohesive market.

Eye-catching headlines on trade and economic security gloss over the economic objective of trade: exchanging U.S.-made goods and services for those from foreign partners at an advantageous price benefiting both and boosting prosperity. No one country has the resources, nor inclination, to be fully self-sufficient especially as standards of living continue to rise. The current focus on domestic manufacturing and self-sufficiency ignores the additional economic benefits that Americans and the...