RILA Trade Expert to Testify on USMCA Joint Review Process

By [ Sung Chang ]
Washington, DC
12/03/2025

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) will testify before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on Wednesday, offering the retail industry’s perspective on how the upcoming Joint Review of the USMCA can strengthen the U.S. economy.

Sung Chang, RILA’s vice president of international trade, will speak on behalf of the nation’s largest retailers — companies that rely on trade with North American partners to deliver the goods consumers depend on every day.

The first Trump Administration’s successful negotiation of the USMCA in 2020 delivered certainty and predictability for leading retailers to plan, invest, and create jobs in the U.S. Retailers believe that success should be built upon, not undone, going forward.

“Our members touch every aspect of people’s lives,” Chang will testify.

“We support the Administration’s goal of using trade policy to promote investment and productivity, enhance U.S. industrial capacity, and defend our economic and national security. We also support the Administration's efforts to benefit hardworking Americans through trade. As the Administration looks to strengthen North American competitiveness, we believe a successful Joint Review, and the subsequent 16-year extension of the Agreement, is critical.”

Retailers recognize that trade is a global balancing act with both local and international considerations.

“We recognize the Administration's goal to address the incorporation of intermediate goods and investment from China into North American supply chains and production,” Chang will testify. “We know additional cooperation is warranted here, but we believe that revising the rules of origin in the USMCA could create unintended friction and undermine supply chain integration.”

Read the full prepared remarks here.

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RILA is the US trade association for leading retailers. We convene decision-makers, advocate for the industry, and promote operational excellence and innovation. Our aim is to elevate a dynamic industry by transforming the environment in which retailers operate.

RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $2.7 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and hundreds of thousands of stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.