AUGUSTA, ME– Maine GOP Chair Demi Kouzounas issued the following statement today on the United States Mexico Canada Agreement going into effect,

“Today, the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), President Trump’s signature renegotiation of the failed NAFTA agreement, will go into effect. This is a critical program for our country with the potential to raise our GDP by $235 billion, and add close to 600,000 jobs across the nation.

“Despite Jared Golden, Nancy Pelosi, and Congressional Democrats’ best attempts to delay this crucial program for more than a year, President Trump got the deal done.

“Here in Maine, our agricultural industry has always been important, and under the USMCA we can expect a $2.2 billion increase in food exports. Maine’s potato and blueberry industries have always been an important part of our history, in 2018 Maine exported $247 million in agricultural products, and with the USMCA we can expect these crops and sales to grow even more.”

Chair Kouzounas concluded, “Because of President Trump, Maine businesses finally have fair trade again. We simply cannot afford to let Joe Biden back in D.C. where he could continue to craft policies that would harm our state and nation for another fifty years.”