Agriculture Has Billions Riding on USMCA
U.S. farmers and ranchers are closely watching the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement negotiations. Virginia Houston, the senior director of congressional affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said Mexico and Canada as trading partners are vital to the success of U.S. farmers and ranchers...
"It's critically important for U.S. agriculture. Since the precursor agreement to USMCA, NAFTA, went into place in the early '90s, U.S. ag exports to those two markets have absolutely skyrocketed from about $9 billion in 1993 to nearly $60 billion in 2024."
Houston said the three neighbors are currently locked into an annual renewal of the agreement, assuming all parties actually do eventually renew the agreement...
"So, by July 1, if any of the three countries did not agree to renew the agreement, USMCA would fall into an annual review process, which is where we are right now. If the countries don't agree to renew in ten years, by 2036, the USMCA will be terminated."
Houston says it’s hard to put a timeline on how long the negotiations could go on or if there will be a new agreement soon. Canada is not yet formally at the table. The U.S. hash eld three rounds of bilateral negotiations with Mexico.
