Thune: USMCA One Step Closer to Final Approval by Senate
“Yesterday’s Finance Committee vote was a long time coming for South Dakota farmers and ranchers.”
Click here or on the picture above to watch Thune’s speech.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade policy, today discussed the committee’s recent bipartisan passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which moves the bill one step closer to final approval by the full Senate.
What’s taking the Senate so long? The House passed it last month, on a bi-partisan vote led by #3, Speaker Pelosi.
New car prices will go up with estimates of 10 – 20% resulting in less purchases and a correlating decline in the US auto industry. Congratulations John Thune, you did it again. I guess your resume with just basketball as your only experience failed to give you lessons in economics.
Despite potential increases in new car prices, an increase in domestic employment may provide a greater benefit to the economy, overall.
The provisions under the USMCA to procure 40%–65% of the content from the US and Canada encourages automakers to shift auto-part production from Mexico and Canada to the U.S., as the majority of auto manufacturing plants are located in the U.S., and companies prefer to keep parts sources near assembly plants to minimize supply chain delays.
In addition, The new USMCA removes tariffs from Trump’s trade arsenal – to the great relief of the auto industry. The burden of higher production costs may be offset by the reassurance that these tariffs are now off the table.