Apples and the USMCA Pt 1
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Congress is back in session and most ag producers are watching to see if there's any chance the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement gets ratified.
U.S. Apple president Jim Bair says let's hope so ...
BAIR ... "Well Bob, in the 24 years or so since NAFTA was passed, we've learned and experienced how great free trade is for agriculture. In the case of apples, we quadrupled our exports to Mexico, we doubled our exports to Canada, as a result of NAFTA.
But, Bair says it's not just about apples ...
BAIR ... "Mexico's the number one export market for wheat, corn, dairy, poultry and eggs. It's number two in all fresh fruit and grains, number three in potatoes, which of course is important to your listeners in the Northwest. Canada is the number one U.S. market for all fresh fruit and vegetables. It's the number one market for wine. It's the number two market for forest products and potatoes."
Bair says it's taught us all just how important free trade is ...
BAIR ... "In my 30-plus years of doing this kind of work, I've never seen a coalition effort like this. It is all hands-on deck, 24-7, working to pass USMCA. The prospects of the impact on ag markets across the nation and certainly in the Northwest, where your listening audience is, the doomsday scenario would be to lose the free-trade across North America."
Tomorrow, Bair talks more about what it will take to get the USMCA process moving.
