The sunscreen in a beach bag. The toothpaste on a bathroom counter. The shampoo, deodorant, and skincare products millions of Americans use every day. Cosmetics and personal care products are woven into daily life, supporting health, hygiene, wellness, and confidence for all Americans.
Behind these everyday essentials is also one of America’s most important manufacturing and export sectors — the cosmetics and personal care industry that supports millions of jobs, invests heavily in U.S. innovation, and helps drive economic growth in nearly every state.
No trade agreement is more important to the sector than the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
North America serves as the backbone of U.S. cosmetics trade. Customers in Canada and Mexico purchase more than one-third of all U.S. cosmetic exports, with integrated regional supply chains helping companies in the U.S. remain globally competitive while supporting American manufacturing, innovation, and jobs here at home. In 2025 alone, the U.S. cosmetics and personal care products industry exported nearly $16 billion in products, with Canada serving as the industry’s largest export market, accounting for 4.2 billion.
The tariff-free framework established by USMCA is critical because the cosmetics and personal care products industry depends on highly integrated regional and global supply chains. Many ingredients, packaging materials, aerosol systems, and cosmetic-grade components are not available in the United States at the scale needed to meet consumer demand. Industry analysis shows that at least 42% of ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products cannot currently be sourced domestically in the quantities needed.
That makes predictable and efficient trade relationships essential for maintaining U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and continued investment in innovation, including more than $1.3 billion annually in domestic research and development.
History shows the risks of trade disruption are not hypothetical.
In 2018, cosmetics and personal care products were swept into retaliatory tariff actions tied to Section 232 steel and aluminum measures and broader U.S.-China trade tensions. More recently, in 2025, Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. consumer goods, including cosmetics and personal care products, in response to U.S. tariff actions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
These episodes demonstrate how consumer-facing industries are often pulled into broader trade disputes despite not being the source of the underlying issue. They also showed how tariffs and retaliation can disrupt supply chains, increase costs for U.S. manufacturers, and weaken the competitiveness of American exports abroad.
Beyond tariff-free trade, one of USMCA’s most significant achievements is the Cosmetics Annex, the only cosmetics-specific annex included in any U.S. free trade agreement. The annex represents a major step forward in reducing costly market access barriers that have historically complicated trade across North America.
The Cosmetics Annex promotes science and risk-based regulation and reduces unnecessary barriers to trade, making it easier for U.S. companies of all sizes to bring products to consumers across the North American market efficiently and safely.
The USMCA demonstrates that trade agreements can do more than eliminate tariffs and expand affordable consumer choices. They can strengthen regional supply chains, improve regulatory cooperation, reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, and create more efficient pathways for American-made cosmetics and personal care products to reach international customers.
The stakes are significant. Today, the U.S. cosmetics and personal care products industry contributes nearly $500 billion in total economic output, supports approximately 2.6 million American jobs, and generates more than $240 billion in U.S. GDP.
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As policymakers review the agreement, preserving these gains should remain a priority. The cosmetics and personal care products industry strongly supports maintaining zero tariffs, preserving the current rules of origin, and protecting and building upon the Cosmetics Annex and broader good regulatory practices provisions that have helped make North America a more competitive and integrated market.
For this industry, USMCA is more than a trade agreement. It is a foundation for growth, competitiveness, and continued North American leadership.
Former U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) is the U.S. Co-Chair of the Coalition for North American Trade and former chairman of the House Committee on Ways & Means.
Thomas Myers is president and chief executive officer of the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), the premier national trade association representing the cosmetics and personal care products industry.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
