A delegation of manufacturing leaders — including the heads of two Iowa-based companies —  met with Vice President Mike Pence on Monday to highlight the importance of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to the U.S. manufacturing sector. Among the delegation were Gage Kent, chairman and CEO of Muscatine-based Kent Corp., and Charles Sukup, president of Sukup Manufacturing in Sheffield. “The USMCA would undoubtedly strengthen and expand the U.S. food and agriculture industry — and all the sectors that support it, including manufacturers,” Kent said in a statement issued by the National Association of Manufacturers. “Agriculture is at the center of the Iowa economy, supporting countless jobs and industries. Each day that passes without the USMCA in place is a day that costs Iowa’s manufacturers and businesses.” Canada and Mexico together purchase one-fifth of the total value of U.S. manufacturing products — more than the next 11 countries combined. On Wednesday, the association will bring manufacturing leaders from across the country together in Washington, D.C., to urge Congress to pass the USMCA.