“Let’s not ruin a mechanism that works, and do not say Mexico is a problem”. This is more or less the meaning of the message sent by USHSLA, the American association of raw hides&skins suppliers, to the US Trade Representative office, department of the US government that has started consultations with various associations in view of the new negotiations on NAFTA, scheduled for the second semester of the year. The position of the current administration, elected on the motto “America First” is known by everybody: the White House would like to renegotiate and even exit the free trade agreement, in order to quicken the reshoring of manufacturing jobs lost in recent decades, mostly on the southern border. Yet, USHSLA, with a note signed by its president, asks for a more modern agreement, aimed at “transparency and efficacy of trade relations”. All this, with the idea that NAFTA has provided a huge opportunity for the tanning industry, in relation to raw materials. In the last twenty years, the industry has grown larger and larger, also thanks to the opportunity for exports. “thanks to the manufacturing integration of the automobile industry, tanned leathers from the US are some of the most utilized in Mexico. In 2016 alone, the revenue from outside the US for this industry was of 159 million dollars.
USA, Protectionism? no thanks: US raw hides&skins suppliers enjoy their relationship with Mexico
