USTR: No NAFTA Deadline Set

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office says no deadline has been set to finalize North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations that can’t begin until mid-August. Officials from Mexico have suggested that Mexico and USTR Robert Lighthizer have agreed on a December 15th deadline to wrap up the negotiations. However, the USTR office told Politico this week no date has been set …

Midwest Railroad Watching NAFTA Talks Closely

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

A railroad company that exports U.S. agricultural products to Mexico is closely watching the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation effort. Kansas City Southern Railway Company CEO Pat Ottensmeyer told KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri: “We once branded ourselves the NAFTA railroad.” Since NAFTA took effect, the railway has grown to send 40 percent of its business to Mexico. The …

TPP Member Nations Moving On

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

The 11 remaining member nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement are moving on with finalizing the agreement without the United States. Four months after the United States announced it would withdraw from the trade agreement, the remaining 11 TPP countries agreed to “launch a process to assess options to bring the comprehensive, high-quality agreement into force expeditiously, including how …

Canada: NAFTA Talks to Start in August

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister told the nation’s lawmakers this week negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement would start in August, the earliest possible by U.S. law. Chrystia Freeland briefed Canadian lawmakers Monday on the negotiation process. She says a time crunch is looming, with the U.S. and Mexico in the biggest hurry to start talks. The Canadian Press …

China Issues “Wish List” for U.S. Trade

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

China has issued a list of concessions that it says can help deliver a “win-win” trade relationship with America. The list is part of an 117-page document released Thursday by the Ministry of Commerce. China would like to improve infrastructure cooperation with the U.S. and accept greater imports of goods ranging from soybeans to aircraft. The report acknowledges the Trump …

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Addresses USMEF

Dan Trade

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) held their Spring Conference in Arlington, Virginia last week. One of the speakers was Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. We’ve heard that President Trump’s proposed budget includes cuts to the USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD). Sen. Roberts talked about …

NAFTA a Success Story for Agriculture

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

A farmer from Nebraska says the North American Free Trade Agreement is a success story for U.S. agriculture and warns of the risks involved in renegotiation. In a letter published by the New York Times, Alan Tiemann writes that NAFTA has tremendously benefited U.S. agriculture. Tiemann, a past U.S. Grains Council Chairman, recalled a delegation of Mexican buyers who recently …

NPPC White Paper Details Benefits Of NAFTA

Dan Industry News Release, Pork, Trade

Following last week’s notification by the Trump administration that it will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the National Pork Producers Council released a white paper on the benefits of the trade deal among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The paper, which focuses primarily on trade with Mexico, makes the case for not abandoning the 23-year-old pact …

Agri View: Shaking Up NAFTA

Dan Agri View, Trade

  Everett Griner talks about the shaking up of the NAFTA trade deal in today’s Agri View.     Farmers in general, agriculture in particular, is looking at anxiety at our president’s involvement in NAFTA. NAFTA, that’s North American Free Trade Agreement. If you don’t know, that is Canada, Mexico and the U.S.A. It may not be the best international trade …