The Greater Des Moines Partnership and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry were among 79 organizations that this week signed a joint letter to Iowa’s congressional delegation in support of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement.

“This trade deal is essential to Iowa farmers, businesses, and families and provides economic predictability that Iowa needs for the future. We encourage you to vote in favor of this agreement,” the letter read in part.

The groups noted that U.S. food and agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico in the past 25 years more than quadrupled under the previous trade agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. That trade supported 900,000 U.S. jobs in those sectors. 

“USMCA builds on the success of the NAFTA agreement, and will ultimately lead to freer markets and fairer trade. This new trade agreement not only locks in the market opportunities previously developed with our North American neighbors, but it also builds on those trade relationships in a number of key areas. Due to key reforms we expect to build on Mexico’s current profile of being an $18 billion market for U.S. ag products and increase access into the Canadian market. These advances help provide certainty in the North American market, which is essential to the success of American agriculture.”

The overall U.S. gross domestic product would rise $68.2 billion, according to the International Trade Commission. 

In 2017, more than $6 billion of Iowa exports flowed into Canadian and Mexican markets, the state’s top trade markets.