A new study from Washington, D.C.’s Business Roundtable has found that international trade supports 1.1 million jobs in Michigan, or about one of five jobs in the state.
Trade with Canada and Mexico supports 338,300 jobs in Michigan. Exports from Michigan to Canada and Mexico have increased by 107 percent since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, according to the report.
In addition, the CEO members of the Business Roundtable, who lead companies with more than 15 million employees, strongly supports congressional passage this year of the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) free-trade agreement negotiated by the Trump Administration.
“We stand united to preserve and modernize North American trade, which supports over 12 million jobs and a strong U.S. economy,” says Tom Linebarger, chair of the Business Roundtable Trade and International Committee, and chairman and CEO of Cummins Inc.
The study was prepared by Trade Partnership Worldwide with the latest-available employment data, which is from 2017, and examines the net impacts of both exports and imports of goods and services on U.S. jobs in all 50 states. It also compared 2017 data to pre-NAFTA data from 1992 and found that trade-supported jobs in Michigan increased by 92 percent from 1992 to 2017, seven times faster than total employment.
The study also says that Michigan exported $39.1 billion in goods and services to Canada and Mexico in 2017, and goods and services exports account for 14.4 percent of Michigan’s total gross domestic product.
A summary of Michigan’s data can be found here, and the full study is available here. A summary of Michigan’s trade with Canada and Mexico can be found here.
