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Arkansas small businesses see benefits from trade with Mexico


About 80 percent of goods exported from Arkansas to Mexico are from small businesses (Photo: MGN)
About 80 percent of goods exported from Arkansas to Mexico are from small businesses (Photo: MGN)
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Small business owners from around the state convened in Rogers on Monday (April 22) to meet with U.S. Rep. Steve Womack. R-Rogers, to discuss trade with Mexico. The business owners returned from a trade delegation trip in central Mexico headed by Melvin Torres, director of Western Hemisphere Trade for the World Trade Center Arkansas in Rogers.

Torres said the ongoing negotiations for the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) treaty that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the three countries was a key focus of the trip and Monday’s briefing with Womack was timely.

Mexico is important to businesses in Arkansas, according to Torres, who said 80 percent of goods exported from Arkansas to Mexico are from small businesses like Lycus Limited of El Dorado or CreekKoolers of Rogers, whose owners were part of the trade delegation.

Torres said Arkansas exports almost twice as much to Mexico as it imports and the passage of the USMCA is important for the continued growth of small businesses around the Natural State. He said one-third of all exports from Arkansas go to either Canada or Mexico.

Read more at Talk Business & Politics.

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