USMCA Action is a Welcome Start to 2020
(AFBF) — The following statement may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall:
“We are now one step away from unleashing the competitiveness of America’s farmers and ranchers with our two largest trading partners thanks to today’s Senate Finance Committee vote. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will protect our valuable trade relationships with our nearest neighbors and return certainty to our markets. We urge immediate approval by the full Senate to deliver a much-needed win for agriculture.
“The challenges farmers and ranchers faced in 2019 are no secret, but it’s a new year and we are eager for new opportunities to compete, building on the progress with Japan and the pending announcement of a new China agreement.
“We hope the USMCA will be a model for future U.S. trade agreements as the administration pursues a level playing field around the globe for our farmers and ranchers.”
USMCA BACKGROUND
Designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, the USMCA builds on important trade relationships in North America.
- The agreement is expected to increase U.S. ag exports by $2 billion and result in a $65 billion increase in gross domestic product.
- The agreement will provide new market access for American dairy and poultry products while preserving the zero-tariff platform on all other ag products.
- In particular, the agreement gives U.S. dairy products access to an additional 3.6 percent of Canada’s dairy market – even better than what was proposed in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
- U.S. wheat will receive fairer treatment, thanks to Canada’s agreement to grade our wheat no less favorably than its own.
- Mexico and the United States have also agreed that all grading standards for ag products will be non-discriminatory.
- Additional provisions enhance science-based trading standards among the three nations as the basis for sanitary and phytosanitary measures for ag products, as well as progress in the area of geographic indications.
- The agreement also includes measures that address cooperation, information sharing and other trade rules among the three nations related to agricultural biotechnology and gene editing.
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
NPPC Applauds Senate Committee Approval of USMCA
(NPPC) — The U.S. Senate Finance Committee approved the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, which once implemented will provide much-needed certainty to U.S. pork producers.
“We thank Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for making USMCA passage a top priority and we thank those members of the committee who support this important trade deal,” said National Pork Producers Council President David Herring, a hog farmer from Lillington, North Carolina. “USMCA will allow the U.S. pork industry to maintain long-term, zero-duty market access to two of our largest export markets.
“We now urge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to schedule a vote on the floor as soon as possible,” added Herring.
In 2018, Canada and Mexico took over 40 percent of the pork that was exported from the United States and a similar percentage is expected in 2019. U.S. pork exports to Canada and Mexico support 16,000 U.S. jobs.
Source: National Pork Producers Council