Washington — Today, Business Roundtable will host a North American CEO Forum to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations and other economic issues of common interest to the assembled business leaders. The meeting will involve approximately 30 CEO members collectively of Business Roundtable, Business Council of Canada and Consejo Mexicano de Negocios.
“It is important that the private and public sector continue to engage closely to preserve, strengthen and modernize the economic benefits that North American trade has created for the United States,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of Business Roundtable.
Dimon continued, “A successful outcome of this work will benefit the people of the entire continent, expanding economic growth, jobs and opportunity at all levels. U.S. CEOs have an opportunity to provide real-world experience to this process, and we will continue to work closely with our counterparts from Canada and Mexico to help to inform policymakers of our shared goals as the negotiations proceed.”
Tom Linebarger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cummins Inc. and Chair of the Business Roundtable International Engagement Committee, added, “NAFTA was a historic agreement when it was negotiated two decades ago and has greatly benefitted the United States. We should seize this opportunity to modernize the agreement for the 21st century. The global economy has changed dramatically and new issues – like e-commerce, the digital economy and fair competition with state-owned enterprises – have emerged over the years. We want to work with the U.S. Administration and Congress and coordinate with Canadian and Mexican business leaders to help achieve a successful negotiation that would further benefit the U.S. economy and American businesses, workers and consumers.”
On May 18, Business Roundtable sent a letter to President Trump outlining principles to guide NAFTA negotiations to benefit U.S. companies and workers. The Business Roundtable letter to the White House can be found here.