BTA Chair Paola Avila to testify at San Antonio field hearing on importance of preserving, modernizing NAFTA

WASHINGTON (November 17, 2017) – Border Trade Alliance (BTA) chair Paola Avila on Monday in San Antonio will testify at a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance’s International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness Subcommittee, chaired by Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

Avila’s testimony will focus on the importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement to the U.S. economy and the negative consequences that would likely result were the renegotiations underway with Canada and Mexico to collapse.

“With White House threats to dismantle NAFTA continuing, it is incumbent upon trade advocates who recognize the damage that an exit from the agreement would inflict on the U.S. economy to speak out and make a forceful case for NAFTA’s preservation and modernization,” Avila said. “I look forward to this opportunity to remind senators that our three nations’ supply chains are deeply integrated, which has created a highly efficient, just-in-time manufacturing environment that has resulted in an enhanced quality of life throughout the region and that is responsible 14 million jobs in the U.S. alone. Dismantling the agreement would make the administration’s stated goal of achieving 3 percent annual economic growth a near impossibility.”

WHAT:                 Hearing of U.S. Senate Committee on Finance’s International Trade, Customs, and

Global Competitiveness Subcommittee on the subject of the modernization and renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

WHEN:                 Monday, November 20, 2017 at 9 a.m.

WHERE:               San Antonio Marriott Plaza Hotel, Cavalier Room

555 S. Alamo St.

San Antonio, Texas 78205

WHO:                   The hearing will be chaired Subcommittee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Border Trade Alliance Chair Paola Avila will testify. Avila is the vice president of international business affairs at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

About the BTA:

Since 1986, the BTA has served as a grassroots, non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and advocacy on issues pertaining to the environment, border development, quality of life and trade in the Americas. A network of public and private sector representatives from the United States, Mexico and Canada, BTA’s core values include a commitment to improving the quality of life of border communities through trade and commerce.