HR-7454-119
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Sponsored by Dina Titus (D-NV)
What it does
This bill would direct the U.S. Trade Representative to advocate, during the next scheduled USMCA joint review, for creating a Travel and Tourism Trade Working Group with Canada and Mexico. The working group would include representatives from several federal agencies, seek input from the tourism industry, meet at least annually, and brief Congress on its activities, but the bill creates no new spending, regulations, or binding legal requirements.
Who benefits
The U.S. travel and tourism industry, including hotels, airlines, tour operators, and related businesses that could benefit from coordinated cross-border tourism policy; workers in the roughly 15 million jobs the industry supports; federal agencies gaining a formal coordination channel (USTR, Commerce, State, DHS, Interior, Labor, Transportation); and border communities dependent on Canadian and Mexican visitor spending.
Who is hurt
No group is meaningfully harmed by this bill, as it only directs a negotiating position and creates a consultative body rather than imposing costs or restrictions; federal agency staff would bear modest administrative burden from participating in and staffing the working group and congressional briefings.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that travel and tourism was the top U.S. services export in 2024, worth about $214 billion and supporting a $35 billion trade surplus, and that Canada and Mexico together account for roughly half of international visits to the United States. They contend a formal USMCA working group would give the industry a structured channel to address emerging cross-border travel issues, sustaining the roughly 15 million jobs the sector supports.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that creating another interagency working group adds bureaucratic layers without guaranteeing concrete outcomes, since the bill only directs USTR to "advocate" for the group's formation rather than requiring Canada and Mexico to agree. They contend that existing USMCA review mechanisms and bilateral tourism dialogues may already address these issues, making a new formal structure duplicative of current diplomatic and trade channels.