Key Issues

BTA’s key issues focus on keeping legitimate trade and travel moving safely and efficiently across North America’s borders. We advocate practical, pro-growth policies—modernized inspections, smarter infrastructure, and harmonized regulations—that strengthen security, reduce delays, and support competitive, resilient supply chains for businesses and communities on both sides of the border.

Supporting inspection policies and procedures that promote economic growth and security

  • Oppose duplicative state-level inspections that harm competitiveness and delay shipments
  • Ensure ports of entry are properly resourced to process trade and travel without interruption
  • Ensure all work performed in FTZs qualifies for USMCA
  • Encourage congressional participation in and oversight of tariff policy, including Sec. 232 and Sec. 301

Innovative trade processing solutions

  • 21st Century Customs Framework
  • Unified Cargo Processing
  • Technological pre-inspection
  • Trade-friendly public–private partnerships

Promoting cross-border travel

  • Strengthen trusted traveler programs
  • Support policies that encourage tourism
  • Reform visa policy

Ensuring strong diplomatic ties

  • Maintain strong diplomatic ties between the U.S. and its border neighbors

Maintaining tariff- and duty-free cross-border agricultural trade

  • Maintain and timely renew the Tomato Suspension Agreement

Properly resourced ports of entry

  • Work with the administration and congressional appropriators to ensure federal personnel levels at ports of entry are commensurate with trade volumes
  • Support robust canine inspection capabilities

Cross-border cooperation and harmonization

  • Resist growth of technical barriers to trade
  • Advocate for reasonable packaging regulations

Technology, policies, and procedures that facilitate trade and reduce delays

  • Seek funding for additional NII (Non-Intrusive Inspection) equipment at major perishable-commodity land ports
  • Increase refrigerated inspection capacity

Supporting a long-term, pro-trade transportation plan

  • Implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Improving border infrastructure

  • Allow CBP to make repairs at GSA-owned ports of entry
  • Extend and improve the Donation Acceptance Program
  • Update GSA and CBP design standards
  • Upgrade border-region environmental infrastructure and technology

Enhancing technological infrastructure

  • Dramatically increase broadband access at ports of entry
  • Shift to a command center model
  • Deploy leading-edge non-intrusive inspection equipment that can enable near-universal inspections

A regulatory environment to encourage trade throughput and enhance border infrastructure

  • Improve the permitting process
  • Promote a multi-modal freight strategy
  • Increase freight capacity at seaports
  • Ensure commercial operational support at seaports for CBP cargo clearance
  • Relieve backlogs at seaports
  • Prevent supply chain disruptions
  • Ensure reliable governance and a robust legislative process

Minimizing disruptions to trade and travel

  • Anticipate surges in asylum-seeking migrants at the U.S.–Mexico border

Policy that promotes free trade in North America