ACTION for Trade: Statement on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ACTION for Trade executive director Brian Pomper issued the following statement on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):

"ACTION for Trade applauds President Trump, Ambassador Lighthizer, and the staff at USTR on reaching a strong deal with Canada and Mexico to bring North American trade into the 21st century. The USMCA represents a marked improvement of many of the intellectual property protections critical to innovators in the Trans-Pacific Partnership in important ways.

"Developing the next generation of treatments and cures that improves patients' lives depends on strong intellectual property protections. In this regard, the USMCA is an historic achievement that will further cement and extend these protections, ensuring that the United States continues to be a leader in medical innovation, creating jobs, exports, and economic growth.

"Moreover, the agreement includes tough enforcement penalties to cut down on intellectual property theft to ensure that American creators and innovators are fairly rewarded for their work. In addition, the USMCA also includes important new disciplines on anticompetitive behavior and protections for software that will spur creativity and innovation.

"Likewise, the new agreement contains improvements for American creators, including to prevent the circumvention of technological prevention measures, to extend the duration of protection in Canada, and to reaffirm the scope of exceptions, while rejecting overbroad fair use proposals. At the same time, we look forward to working with the Administration on the new online liability provisions in future agreements to ensure fair value for creators and reduce access to pirated works on the Internet.

"U.S. IP-intensive industries account for 38 percent of U.S. GDP and generate $6.6 trillion in economic activity. Nearly 58 million American jobs are supported by IP-intensive industries, which pay wages 45 percent higher than non-IP-intensive industries. American trade agreements should aim to grow the high-paying and export-heavy jobs in the innovative and creative sectors of the U.S. economy."

About ACTION for Trade: The American Creative, Technology, and Innovative Organizations Network is a coalition of trade associations and businesses dedicated to shaping U.S. trade policy. ACTION for Trade aims to make sure U.S. trade policy and trade agreements foster innovation and creativity and protect the intellectual property that drives U.S. trade competitiveness.

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SOURCE ACTION for Trade