USMCA Fixes
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Renewal of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement won strong bipartisan support at a Senate Finance hearing as the trade deal that replaced NAFTA comes up for its six-year review.
Finance Chair Mike Crapo conceded USMCA isn’t perfect, but says it’s been a boon to industry and agriculture, and should be extended …
CRAPO … “USMCA propelled the United States to export 60 (B) billion dollars in agricultural goods to Canada and Mexico, which represents one-third of all US agriculture exports.”
But Crapo says greater enforcement is needed in some areas.
Idaho dairy farmer with the Northwest Dairy Association Ted Vander Schaff (Skoff) accused Canada of restricting quota
access to its market …
VANDER SCHAFF … “… by reserving the vast majority of quota volumes for domestic processors who lack incentives to import. Meanwhile, distributors get minimal amounts of quota, while retailers, restaurants and food service operators are excluded entirely.”
Top Finance Democrat Ron Wyden, of Oregon, hailed USMCA’s passage but complained the president’s tariffs complicate renewal …
WYDEN … “The House voted to repeal Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Trump’s chaotic tariffs are losing support across the political spectrum. Now, the Senate needs to get that legislation to the president’s desk.”
Trump will undoubtedly veto that, and the Senate would have to muster an unlikely two-thirds majority to override him.
