Farm groups were among the first to testify at three days of hearings called by the Trump administration as it decides how to modify the North American Free Trade Agreement. While agriculture has been an overall winner under NAFTA, different groups want to make sure their particular concerns are addressed in a renegotiated pact. The produce industry, for example, says it suffers from cheap imports from Mexico, while grain groups want exports to keep flowing to the No. 2 and No. 3 customers in the world, said DTN.
More than 130 witnesses were scheduled to testify at the hearings, which began on Tuesday, said the Wall Street Journal, “with a long list of industries, unions, and activists looking to protect what they’ve gained since the 1994 launch, to make up for what they’ve lost, or to take advantage of the opportunity for change.” The U.S. trade representative’s office received more than 12,000 comments in the month after the administration said it would renegotiate NAFTA. Talks could begin as early as mid-August.
“While [agricultural] industry groups pushed for a more rapid response to settle disputes over specific shipments, grain and commodity groups stressed almost as a mantra that any changes to NAFTA should ‘do no harm,’ ” said DTN. The National Corn Growers Association, for example, said it was important to maintain duty-free access for corn under NAFTA. Florida’s fruit and vegetable industry said Mexico will eventually control the U.S. produce supply unless NAFTA rules are changed. “U.S. tomato acreage, for instance, has been cut by 25 percent under NAFTA, while Mexico’s production has increased 230 percent,” said DTN.