CFBF: Farm Bureau Welcomes U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement
The newly revised North American Free Trade Agreement, renamed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, promises to ease export of California-grown farm products, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.
“The newly announced U.S.-Canada agreement, in combination with the earlier agreement between the U.S. and Mexico, strengthens relations with two key trading partners,” CFBF President Jamie Johansson said, “and we urge Congress to ratify the USMCA without delay.”
Johansson said the agreement will provide California farmers and ranchers with “much-needed certainty” in key export markets.
“We applaud the three governments for working to modernize the agricultural chapters in the agreement,” he said. “It’s a welcome development at a time when farmers have faced obstacles in selling their products to foreign customers.”
Canada represents the second-largest market for California agricultural exports, with sales of more than $3.3 billion in 2016—the most recent year for which full statistics are available. Mexico is the No. 5 foreign market for California farm products, with sales of just more than $1 billion in 2016.
“Agricultural exports support thousands of jobs in California, both in rural areas where crops and commodities are grown and packed, and in urban centers from which products are marketed and shipped,” Johansson said. “We hope the agreements with Mexico and now with Canada lead to further easing of trade restrictions.”
The new agreements leave in effect Canadian and Mexican retaliatory tariffs on farm goods imposed after the U.S. placed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Johansson urged U.S. negotiators to reach agreements on those issues as soon as possible.
“We’ve seen California farmers, ranchers and agricultural marketers lose sales because of the retaliatory tariffs from Canada, Mexico and in particular from China,” he said. “Until those tariffs come off, farmers won’t see the full benefit of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.”
The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 40,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 5.5 million Farm Bureau members.
Source: California Farm Bureau Federation
AFBF: Farm Bureau Applauds Trade Progress with Canada
The following statement regarding the announcement of trade progress with Canada can be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall:
“Today’s announcement regarding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is welcome news. This was a hard-fought win and we commend the administration for all the efforts to solidify the trading relationships we have with our North American neighbors.
“Farm Bureau will review the details of the new treaty as they become available, but the elimination of Canada’s Class 7 dairy pricing program is a clear victory for our farmers. We also now have access to an additional 3.6 percent of Canada’s dairy market, which is even better than what we would have achieved under TPP.
“Trade is critical to agriculture, especially trade with our two closest neighbors. The USMCA builds on the success our farmers and ranchers have seen from NAFTA.
“Mexico, meanwhile, is still an $18 billion market for U.S. ag products. The USMCA includes new provisions to provide science-based trading standards, timely review of products produced through biotechnology and gene editing and new provisions on geographic indications.
“We are grateful for the progress with Mexico and Canada, and we look forward to working with the Administration to strengthen new and existing opportunities for agricultural trade across the globe.”
Source: American Farm Bureau Association
NCBA: New US-Mexico-Canada Agreement “Great News” for Cattle Producers
Kevin Kester, a fifth-generation California rancher and President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, released the following statement in response to news that negotiators have reached agreement on a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement:
“This new agreement is great news for American cattle producers, and another sign that President Trump’s overall trade strategy is working. Over the past quarter century, free and open trade between the United States, Mexico, and Canada has been tremendously successful for our producers, and we’re pleased that we’ll be able to maintain our existing market access while seeing other U.S. producers get a better deal than they’ve gotten in the past. Hopefully Congress will approve this new deal early next year and provide American producers with the certainty we need to continue selling our products to our partners to the north and south.”
Source: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
NPPC: NPPC Hails U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement; Designates Congressional Ratification As ‘Key Vote’
Recent Deals Preserve Zero-Tariff Access To Three Of Top Five Markets
The National Pork Producers Council praised the Trump administration for establishing a free trade agreement that preserves zero-tariff access for U.S. pork to Mexico and Canada. The agreement, which was sent by the administration to Capitol Hill for ratification today, will be designated by NPPC as a “key vote” to ensure that its members are informed about “yes” and “no” votes on the pact.
“We thank the administration for its diligent work to complete recent agreements that maintain zero-tariff access to three of U.S. pork’s top five markets,” said Jim Heimerl, NPPC president and a pork producer for Johnstown, Ohio. “The three-way pact with Mexico and Canada, our largest and fourth largest export markets, respectively, and the recently signed agreement with Korea represent welcome momentum during what has been a challenging year.”
Last week, the administration formally signed a modernized free trade agreement with South Korea that retained the zero-tariff access to U.S. pork’s fifth largest export market.
Heimerl added, “We urge Congress to quickly ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, and we’ll closely monitor this as a key vote for our members, who have demonstrated incredible perseverance as the administration realigns U.S. global trade policy.”
U.S. pork is currently on three trade retaliation lists that have placed 40 percent of total exports under punitive tariffs. NPPC continues to urge the administration to remove tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum imports so that country will lift its 20 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. pork.
Source: National Pork Producers Council
NMPF: U.S. Dairy Organizations Thank Trump Administration for Concluding New Trade Agreement with Canada, Mexico
The trade agreement reached between the United States and Canada includes the elimination of Canada’s Class 7 pricing system and creation of some additional market access, two important objectives of the U.S. dairy sector.
The National Milk Producers Federation, (NMPF), the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) thanked Trump Administration negotiators for fighting hard against Canada’s trade-distorting practices. The groups look forward to reviewing the text of the U.S. -Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), in particular the dairy provisions, to better understand the benefits to U.S. agriculture and dairy.
Canada has strictly controlled imports for decades to limit the supply of milk in the country. Recently, as milk production in Canada has grown, it created the Class 7 pricing system to dump surplus milk proteins onto global markets, in direct competition with exports from the United States and other nations.
From a strategic standpoint, the agreement announced Sunday night will benefit America’s dairy sector because it preserves the overall structure of the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“The outlines of the NAFTA pact remain intact, which will allow the U.S. agricultural sector to continue developing new international markets for our farmers,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “We also need to pursue new free trade agreements with other nations and resolve our trade conflicts with China. It is imperative that the United States remains an integral player in driving the global trade agenda.”
While Canada will remain a largely self-contained, protected milk market, “this agreement, when implemented, should give us additional marketing opportunities that will allow us to provide high-quality American dairy products to Canada, which means we’ve made incremental progress,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We appreciate that the Trump Administration continually raised the profile of our issues at the negotiating table.”
“Maintaining dairy market access in Mexico and improving market access into Canada were IDFA’s top priorities during the talks to modernize NAFTA,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA. “We’re also pleased that the Administration was successful in getting Canada to eliminate Class 7 pricing. This new agreement will preserve our vital partnership with both countries and allow the U.S. dairy industry to seek more export opportunities.”
The dairy groups said that the ultimate benefit of the new USMCA will depend on how it is implemented. Now that a tentative trilateral agreement has been reached, the dairy organizations urged the governments of the three nations to remove their tariffs on agricultural exports – as well as steel and aluminum – that have been sticking points in relations between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The three organizations also thanked the many members of Congress who insisted than an increase in dairy market access be an essential outcome to the negotiations.
Source: National Milk Producers Association
ASTA:
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) applauds the news of a new trade agreement between the U.S. and its two largest export markets: Mexico and Canada.
“This trilateral deal is a win for the U.S. seed industry,” said ASTA President and CEO Andrew LaVigne. “We thank the administration for its efforts in reaching a strong agreement that fosters innovation and ensures robust science-based standards for the continued movement of seed with two of our most important trading partners.”
While ASTA is still reviewing the full details of the agreement, the association is pleased to see the language includes its core priorities for trade. Most notably, the agreement provides stronger support for agricultural biotechnology and the trait approval process; recognizes the importance of evolving plant breeding methods like gene editing; strengthens science-based sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations; and provides strong intellectual property protections, including adoption of UPOV 91 requirements.
The U.S. is the largest market for seed in the world and is also the largest seed exporter. Seed varieties can cross six international borders before they are commercialized. This movement is critical to bring the highest quality seed to producers. Without seed exports, U.S. companies would lose $1.7 billion in sales annually. Mexico and Canada are our two largest export markets and vital trading partners. Of the $1.7 billion in U.S. exports, these trading countries account for $600 million in annual exports and make up 57-percent of U.S. corn-seed export sales.
Source: American Seed Trade Association
ASA: New ‘NAFTA’ Announced: Soybean Growers Pleased Administration has Reached Deal with Canada and Mexico
The Administration’s announcement that it has reached an agreement with Canada, bringing to fruition a trilateral trade agreement including Mexico, is welcome news for soy growers. Once approved by Congress, a finalized U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement will bring stability back to the North American markets.
Under NAFTA, U.S. soy exports to Canada and Mexico were almost $3 billion in 2017, and U.S. soy exports to Mexico have grown four-fold under the agreement. Mexico is now the second largest export market for U.S. soybeans and meal. Additionally, roughly $43 billion of agriculture products are exported to Canada and Mexico every year.
ASA President and soybean grower from Keota, Iowa, John Heisdorffer said, “Our soybean harvest this year is large, and we are facing great uncertainty in China, so a modernized NAFTA is timely and beneficial for our farmers and rural communities.”
The new deal, dubbed USMCA, will help stabilize the U.S.’s two neighboring export markets for growers, something that the American Soybean Association (ASA) has been requesting of the Administration. And, this news follows last week’s announcement that the U.S. had signed a new free trade agreement with Korea and that negotiations are in progress with Japan.
“With USMCA, KORUS, and other agreements in sight, we are hopeful that a negotiated solution to the China tariffs could be in sight,” commented Heisdorffer.
Source: American Soybean Association