Following tonight's State of the Union address, American Trucking Associations' President and CEO Chris Spear applauded President Donald Trump for his proactive calls to address the nation's aging infrastructure and modernize the trade relationships with the country's North American neighbors.
"Tonight President Trump called for a national, bipartisan effort to restore our country's declining infrastructure -- and America's truckers are answering that call," Spear said. "A win on this issue will require real investment, not budgetary gimmicks as tried in years past. That is why America's truckers, along with a broad coalition of the business community, have pledged our financial commitment to making this national priority a reality.
"Decades of failed leadership in Washington have led us to this point, which is why we commend the President for seizing this opportunity to bring all sides together to forge a common path forward. Restoring our national infrastructure to greatness will further ignite our economy, make us more competitive abroad, and give Americans more time to spend with family and less time stuck in traffic."
Spear continued to urge Congress to move quickly on the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
"Trucking and trade are synonymous. Trucks move $720 billion worth of goods annually across our borders with Canada and Mexico, and cross-border trucking activity supports more than 47,000 jobs in the United States," he said. "Any significant disruption to those trading relationships would have serious consequences for trucking and the economy, so we join President Trump in his call for Congress to quickly ratify the USMCA trade agreement."
