USMCA Trade Negotiations Vital to U.S. Agriculture Success
Virginia Houston
Senior Director, Government Affairs
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement is undergoing serious renegotiations. Chad Smith has more on the talks.
Smith: U.S. farmers and ranchers are closely watching the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement negotiations. Virginia Houston, the senior director of congressional affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said Mexico and Canada as trading partners are vital to the success of U.S. farmers and ranchers.
Houston: It's critically important for U.S. agriculture. Since the precursor agreement to USMCA, NAFTA, went into place in the early '90s, U.S. ag exports to those two markets have absolutely skyrocketed from about $9 billion in 1993 to nearly $60 billion in 2024.
Smith: Houston said the three neighbors are currently locked into an annual renewal of the agreement, assuming all parties actually do eventually renew the agreement.
Houston: So, by July 1, if any of the three countries did not agree to renew the agreement, USMCA would fall into an annual review process, which is where we are right now. If the countries don't agree to renew in ten years, by 2036, the USMCA will be terminated.
Smith: Houston said it’s hard to put a timeline on how long the negotiations could go on or if there will be a new agreement soon.
Houston: So, the U.S. has held three rounds of bilateral negotiations with Mexico. Canada is not yet formally at the table, but the Canadian Trade Minister has been in Washington D.C. several times over the past few weeks to meet with his counterpart, and the hope is that these bilateral negotiations will soon turn into trilateral negotiations between the three countries.
Smith: Stay tuned to fb.org for updates. Chad Smith, Washington.
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