FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Statement from Chamber on Governor Abbott’s letter to US

Trade Representative regarding NAFTA
Last week, Governor Abbott sent a letter to United States Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer urging him to safeguard initiatives important to the Texas economy. On behalf
of the San Antonio business community, I applaud his bold letter and timeliness of the
outreach. Sixty-three thousand jobs in San Antonio are directly tied to the 1994 North
American Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with an additional 135,000 jobs indirectly tied to
it. Because of the impact that NAFTA has had on our community, the San Antonio
Chamber of Commerce has proactively and continuously advocated for maintaining a
strong, modernized NAFTA. In addition to testifying before Congress, I have been
speaking about and sharing NAFTA’s impact on San Antonio with business leaders in
the United States, Mexico, and Canada during the negotiating rounds over the last
several months.

We thank the Governor for his support of the automotive and energy industries that are
key businesses in the San Antonio area, and we hope that our governments can come
to a long-term trilateral agreement soon, creating certainty across our economies.

Richard Perez, President and CEO

San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

San Antonio Chamber of Commerce | 602 E. Commerce, San Antonio, TX 78205 | 210-229-2100 | www.sachamber.org