As expected, the U.S. Senate will not consider the updated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), in 2018. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Bloomberg News a vote on the updated agreement would not happen until after the New Year, saying “My trade advisers say you can’t possibly do it under the various steps …
Trudeau Says USMCA Keeps China Trade Door Open
Canada’s Prime Minister says the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) allows Canada to move forward with trade talks with China. Despite a provision in the text of the agreement that allows the U.S. to opt-out of the deal if Canada or Mexico engages with China, Justin Trudeau claims the provisions were “watered down” in the final version of the agreement. He …
International Trade Commission to Review USMCA
The U.S. International Trade Commission will review the U.S.,-Mexico-Canada Agreement next month. The Commission is scheduled to meet November 15th for an economic review of the trade agreement that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Politico reports that the ITC probe, which is required by Congress, formally launched Friday. The Commission has until mid-March to complete its report, …
Agri View: Trade War Damage
Everett Griner talks about who loses in a trade war in today’s Agri View. Trade War Damage Trade war — it has been going on for almost half a year now, and nobody has any notion of when it will end. Unlike a real war where many people are hurt, trade war hurts everybody, especially the producer. Look at this: …
Southern Africa: A Promising Region for U.S. Agricultural Exports
Two-way agricultural trade between the United States and Southern Africa has grown significantly in the past decade, reaching a record $1.5 billion in 2017. The region imported $14 billion in agricultural and related products last year and the potential for U.S. export growth is strong, given that many of these are products that the United States produces competitively. USDA’s Foreign …
Dropped Tariffs Could Mean Less USDA Trade Aid Relief
Ag groups are largely supportive of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade package. However, many of those same groups say their biggest concern right now is ending retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products. Those duties were put in place after President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue told Reuters this week that, with a trade deal …
Trump, XI Likely to Meet at Upcoming G-20
An Associated Press article says U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President XI Jinping may meet during the G-20 summit in Argentina scheduled for late November. China says it is in contact with the U.S. amid reports of the upcoming meeting. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman offered no specifics but did say he’d seen the relevant reports. Trump’s top economic …
USMCA Fate Could Rest with Democrats After Elections
Politico says the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) likely won’t get voted on before 2019. That’s because of a packed Congressional schedule at the end of this year, as well as a limited political will to hold a vote. That likely means Democrats will have a huge say in whether or not the deal gets enacted, if as many polls …
Secretary Perdue Comments on USMCA
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement regarding the announcement of a United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA): “The great news of a new USMCA deal is important for our economy as a whole, including the agricultural sector, which counts Canada and Mexico in our top three trading partners. I have long said that I believe our country is …
EU Ready for Talks over U.S. Beef
The European Union (EU) is readying to negotiate with the United States to allow the U.S. to increase beef exports to EU countries. The European Commission sought approval from its 28-member states last month to open negotiations with Washington. The approval process is expected to be completed next week to allow negotiations to begin. Beef is separate from an arrangement …