Mayors along the Mississippi River urged President Donald Trump to keep America in a global climate change agreement, citing implications for trade and shipping along the river. 

Trump announced the U.S. would pull out of dozens of international organizations and agreements Thursday. One of those was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Blytheville, Arkansas, Mayor Melisa Logan — co-chairs of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI) — said Thursday that leaving the climate change agreement will give other countries trade advantages over the U.S.    

Under both the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, countries are allowed to use trade rules to favor cleaner, low-carbon products. That means nations can agree to make it easier — and cheaper — to buy and sell goods that produce fewer emissions, while putting pressure on dirtier products. 

The MRCTI chairs said if the U.S. steps away from the negotiating table, it allows other countries — especially China — to set rules and create trade leverage. 

“Our farmers and manufacturers have spent the last 30-plus years building markets abroad,” Young and Logan said in a statement. “Indeed, over $164 billion in agricultural exports move on the Mississippi River annually, nearly $1 trillion worth of product passes the St. Louis Arch and Memphis Pyramid every year. 

“Now, with the U.S. potentially walking away from the UNFCCC, our products will be completely subject to the whims and trade access restrictions set by other nations with no say from America.”