Congress and the administration have signed the much-anticipated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). 

The Security Industry Association (SIA) says this renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) acknowledges thoughtful and necessary changes that will create a fair-trade landscape while upholding pro-business principles in removing unnecessary trade barriers. The trilateral trade agreement will benefit the North American security industry immensely, open new opportunities to stimulate job growth and expand business operations into existing and emerging markets, according to SIA.

Specifically, U.S. companies seeking to expand operations into Mexico or Canada can rely on robust intellectual property (IP) protections that curb IP theft and copyright infringements; removal of data localization requirements which forced U.S. companies to store collected data in the host country versus the United States; and efficient procurement policies that streamline and digitize communications, acquisition timelines and important transactional information.

“The signing of the USMCA will bring significant benefits for the security industry and allow SIA’s members to invest in new opportunities internationally,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “Companies have navigated through the digital economy for years, and NAFTA — USMCA’s predecessor — required substantial reforms to reflect the current state of the market. USMCA incorporates these thoughtful, much-needed changes and creates a more open trade landscape by upgrading out-of-date trade policies and removing unnecessary trade barriers.”

In Sept. 2019, SIA partnered with the Latin American Security Association (ALAS) and the Canadian Security Association (CANASA) in publishing a joint statement supporting the ratification of USMCA. SIA, ALAS and CANASA — the leading representation of the security industry in North America — collectively represent more than 2,500 companies with business operations located in the United States, Mexico and Canada.