USMCA Hearing
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. With the review process of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement sent to begin later this year, the Senate Finance Committee took a closer look at the deal last week.
Dave Salmonsen, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says testimony before the Committee highlighted the benefits of the agreement …
SALMONSEN … “Basically, talked about how good it had been for North American business, how good it had been for North American agriculture, how much it's increased our exports, how important it is to our supply chains, and I guess crucially, going in through this review process that's going to happen later this year, why it needs to continue. If they agree in July it should go forward, then it goes forward for at least another 16 years.”
Salmonsen notes there are still some updates needed …
SALMONSEN … “We thought we negotiated some extensive dairy access with Canada, and they have grown, but not to extent we thought they would, to get the access we know we should get.”
Salmonsen said it’s important to look at USMCA through a historical lens and understand how much growth we’ve seen …
SALMONSEN … “We've had such strong growth. You go back to 1993, the beginning of NAFTA, the US exported about $8 billion of ag products to Canada and Mexico combined. Now we're over $60 billion. Mexico is our number one, Canada is our number two export destination now. The best trade is to trade with the neighbors. It's the most efficient trade there is.”
Again, that’s Dave Salmonsen with the American Farm Bureau.
