House Ag Committee leaders and a group of farm lobbyists are calling on the Trump Administration to not withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Hagstrom Report says they’re also asking the White House to finish negotiations quickly to avoid potential declines in agricultural exports. Texas Republican and House Ag Committee Chair Michael Conaway and Minnesota Democrat …
Trump’s Aggressive Trade Strategy Both Defended and Criticized in Farm Circles
President Trump’s aggressive trade strategy of threatening to pull out of existing agreements without big concessions to the U.S. is being both defended and criticized in farm circles. President Trump is again taking a hard line with U.S. trading partners in Asia, after first dumping TPP and now threatening to ditch NAFTA. It’s a strategy that has many, especially in …
NAFTA Negotiators Extend Length of Next Round
A Bloomberg report says negotiators discussing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will begin next week’s round in Mexico City two days early. The goal is to give themselves more time to discuss a large number of issues surrounding the two-decade-old pact. Negotiators last met in Washington D.C., for the previous round of talks. Two officials close to the …
Ag Struggling to Make Voice Heard in NAFTA Talks
The American agricultural lobby thought that President Trump’s trade politics would spare farmers and others in agriculture. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says it was the rural and red-state turnout that put Trump over the top in the presidential election. Trump has threatened to issue a formal intent to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and agriculture can’t …
NAFTA Withdrawal Would Not Lower Deficit With Mexico
President Trump often cited withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a way to reduce America’s trade deficit with Mexico. However, a Forbes Dot Com article says that isn’t the way it works. If the U.S. should no longer be involved in NAFTA, all three countries revert to Most Favored Nation trade status under the World Trade …
Senate Ag Committee Warns Trump Administration on Possible NAFTA “Pullout”
The Chairman of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee issued perhaps his most direct public warning yet to the Trump Administration on a possible North American Free Trade Agreement “pullout.” Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts spoke to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce audience in Washington, D.C. on the strategy President Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are pursuing on …
Trade Lawyer Tells Companies to Prepare for no NAFTA
A trade lawyer in the U.S. says companies should start contingency planning amid trade uncertainty. Dan Ujczo, an international trade lawyer specializing in Canada-U.S. matters, told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper that growing uncertainty over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement means companies need to brace themselves, including for the possibility that President Donald Trump walks away …
NAFTA Renegotiation Agreement Depends on Tax Reform, Agriculture
The fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) depends on U.S. tax reform and agriculture. That’s according to Former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Jim Jones, who told Politico that if tax reform passes, President Donald Trump will be “more interested in listening to reason” on NAFTA and other issues. Jones says: “Trump is less interested in substance than …
NAFTA Notice Would Devastate Farm Economy
President Trump has been weighing the idea of giving notice that the U.S. intends to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a way of taking a tough stance on the negotiations. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says even giving the notice would cause immediate harm. A group of 86 food and agriculture groups sent a letter to …
National Farmers Organization Talks NAFTA
The National Farmers’ Organization took its turn to weigh in on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations. The Hagstrom Report says the NFO called on the Trump Administration to be “cautious” when it comes to the negotiations, noting that there would be substantial fallout for American farmers and ranchers if the agreement is terminated. Paul Olson, NFO President, …