In a joint statement released at “K 2019” in Düsseldorf / Germany, the three industry associations representing plastics manufacturers in the US, Canada and Mexico welcomed Mexico’s ratification of the new tripartite US-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA), recently negotiated successor to the “North American Free Trade Agreement” (NAFTA) – see Plasteurope.com of 11.12.2018. At the same time, the US grouping Plastics Industry Association (Plastics, Washington, D.C.; www.plasticsindustry.org), the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA, Mississauga, Ontario; www.plastics.ca) and Mexico’s Asociación Nacional de Industrias del Plástico (Anipac, Mexico City; www.anipac.com) called on the governments of the US and Canada to ratify the revised pact. The US association’s CEO Tony Radoszewski earlier said at a press conference at K that Plastics supports the USMCA agreement – see Plasteurope.com of 21.10.2019. At the trade fair, Plastics also released its “Global Trends Report”.

“The plastics industry of North America has stood together throughout the process of negotiating the agreement, working closely within its organisations and with policymakers to ensure the creation of a strong trade agreement,” the associations said, stressing that the USMCA “would greatly benefit the economies and plastics industries of all three member nations and the millions of employees it supports.” The industry needs the certainty of a binding treaty to invest in new technologies, hire more workers and embrace sustainable growth throughout the continent, the plastics producers underlined.