NAFTA
U.S. vote on the new NAFTA could slip to late 2020, says Grassley
Report: The ‘new NAFTA’ will boost ag exports by 1.1 percent
U.S. food and agricultural exports would increase by $2.2 billion, or 1.1 percent, with full implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the successor to NAFTA, said the U.S. International Trade Commission in a report issued Thursday.
U.S. farm products likely targets as Canada refreshes tariff list
Canada could soon propose retaliatory tariffs on "a significant number of agricultural products," including U.S. wine, pork, apples and ethanol, as part of its campaign for removal of American tariffs on steel and aluminum, said ambassador David MacNaughton on Monday. The food and ag products would be part of a "refreshed" list of tariffs that originally took effect last July 1.
Pence hears grumbles about tariffs as he promotes the new NAFTA
Vice President Mike Pence told Indiana farmers on Thursday that the Trump administration is “absolutely determined to see the USMCA completed and ratified by the U.S. Congress this spring.” During his visit, the vice president heard complaints about tariffs on agricultural products from “numerous” crop and hog farmers.
Grassley urges Trump to remove tariffs on Canada and Mexico
To speed approval of the successor to NAFTA, President Trump should remove tariffs on steel imported from Canada and Mexico, said Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley on Monday.
Ag ‘risks losing much of the trade gains achieved over the past three decades’
The U.S. food and agriculture sector would lose nearly $22 billion in exports, equal to 15 percent of this year's sales forecast, if the United States scrapped NAFTA without a replacement on top of withdrawing from TPP, said three Purdue economists in a report on Monday. "Under this more pessimistic outcome, the negative trade impacts would be reflected in lower incomes for U.S. farmers, reduced land returns and labor displacement."
Trump asks China to remove tariffs on U.S. ag exports
With the trade war stunting U.S. farm exports after two years of growth, President Trump said he has asked China to remove its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. food and ag exports. Trump announced the request on the same day four large farm groups opened their annual meetings with a joint endorsement of the new North American trade pact negotiated by the White House.
Trump asks Congress to pass trade deal with Canada, Mexico
After calling NAFTA an historic trade blunder, President Trump called on Congress on Tuesday to pass its successor, saying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would expand American agriculture. Wheat growers responded by warning against withdrawing from NAFTA, a tactic Trump has discussed, before the new trade agreement is ratified.
The farm-income bump is the bailout by Trump
U.S. farm income will be slightly higher than expected this year due chiefly to $4.7 billion in Trump tariff payments that will buffer the impact of trade war on commodity prices, says the USDA. With the bailout, farmers are forecast to collect $13.6 billion in direct farm payments, the largest amount in 12 years.
Sen. Grassley heads to finance committee
‘New NAFTA’ helps alleviate farm income fears
Six in 10 respondents to a Purdue poll on farmer confidence said the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement had either completely or somewhat relieved their concerns about their income over the next year.
Four times more tariff pain than financial gain in ‘new NAFTA’
Although President Trump declared the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement a big win for U.S. farmers, a study released on Wednesday says U.S. farm exports will fall by $1.8 billion due to retaliatory tariffs by Mexico and Canada. That would be four times larger than the gains the trade pact would produce.
U.S. ‘locking up’ trade access to Canada and Mexico, says Perdue
Wheat and dairy groups were guarded in their assessments of the North American trade pact, while Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asserted on Thursday the agreement "is locking up two of our top three markets for the future." The administration says the agreement, which needs approval by Congress, will enable fairer trade in food and agriculture but has not suggested what additional trade flow to expect.
‘Dairy was a deal-breaker’ in writing NAFTA’s successor, says president
President Trump veered between predicting easy approval of the new Canada-Mexico-U.S. trade agreement and expressing concerns about opposition to the pact on Monday while declaring that the agreement “is a very, very big deal for our farmers.”
Canada to eliminate Class 7 barrier, allow more U.S. access to dairy market
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement that will succeed NAFTA includes the elimination of Canada’s Class 7 dairy price system and greater U.S. access to the Canadian dairy market than offered in the TPP free trade agreement, said senior administration officials late Sunday.
NAFTA’s influence on Mexico: an interview with Alyshia Gálvez
Much of the domestic discussion of NAFTA’s effects have centered on American workers, eaters, and growers. But the deal has had just as large an impact on Mexico’s economy, workforce, and agriculture. In Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico, Alyshia Gálvez writes of how Mexico has been affected by the trade deal, and what possibilities for better deal-making could emerge if we took seriously the concerns of that country’s workers, eaters, and growers.
Farm state senators say TPP could be part of a trade war cure for ag
Three Republican senators said on Thursday that re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership could speed up the process of finding alternative markets for farm exports now that China has closed its door to them.
Canada needs ‘flexibility’ on dairy in NAFTA bargaining, says Mulroney
Amid rumors that Canada will offer concessions on dairy trade, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said he would be surprised if the new NAFTA did not include "flexibility" on the country's supply management system. Agriculture is a small part of NAFTA trade but it is a stubborn impediment in U.S.-Canada negotiations.