NAFTA
Some nutritionists blame free trade for obesity epidemic in Mexico
As Mexicans consume more calories, there is a debate whether free trade and foreign investment resulted in an epidemic of obesity or whether it reduced malnutrition by lowering food prices, says the New York Times. Fast food restaurants and convenience stores multiplied across Mexico as its economy grew in recent decades.
Just in case: USDA works on response to NAFTA withdrawal
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he is “talking with the administration and Congress about some mitigation efforts” if President Trump withdraws the United States from NAFTA, said Politico.
Farm country fears loss of NAFTA and its benefits
President Trump’s repeated threats to scrap NAFTA are creating uncertainty in the Farm Belt, where ag exports are a key source of income, and may undermine U.S. negotiating power in other parts of the world, said farm group leaders.
Oregon frets about NAFTA and Christmas trees
One in six of the Christmas trees harvested in Oregon is sold south of the border in Mexico, so state officials are keenly monitoring negotiations for the new NAFTA. If talks collapse or the United States withdraws from the free trade agreement, "it could result in Mexico imposing a retaliatory tariff on the U.S. and pivoting to Canadian suppliers," says Bloomberg.
‘Do no more harm’ to NAFTA, farm leaders say
President Trump's repeated threats to withdraw from NAFTA are scaring away customers for U.S. ag exports, farm leaders said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce session on "The future of NAFTA." Gordon Stoner of the National Association of Wheat Growers said the informal slogan of farm groups – "do no harm" – when negotiations began for the new NAFTA should be replaced with "do no more harm."
Leave NAFTA nuclear option on the shelf, say U.S. ag groups
Commodity prices will fall and export sales will be lost if the Trump administration withdraws from NAFTA, which generates one-third of U.S. agricultural trade, said U.S. farm and agribusiness groups in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. With farm income down sharply, "2018 would be an especially damaging time to lose America's two largest food and agriculture product markets."
Perdue’s grade after six months as agriculture secretary: A*
On his first day at work, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told employees, "I don't cage too well." So it was apt that the peripatetic Perdue was on the road this week, speaking at the FFA convention in Indianapolis and touring the prairie pothole region of the northern Plains, when he reached his six-month mark at USDA. Ag leaders rate Perdue highly as an ambassador for agriculture and agree with his policy decisions.
Ag issues contribute to NAFTA impasse as talks head to Canada
Canada stood fast in defense of its supply management system for dairy, and Mexico rejected a U.S. proposal for sanctions on seasonal surges in produce shipments during an inconclusive round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City.
Farm-state senators ask Ross to keep ag exports flowing
Before the administration changes NAFTA, or any other trade agreement, it ought to analyze the impact on agriculture and tell farmers what to expect in the export market, said 18 farm-state senators in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
U.S. says new NAFTA must end Canadian protection of dairy, poultry, eggs
At the top of the Trump administration's list of agricultural goals for the new NAFTA is elimination of Canadian tariffs on imports of U.S. dairy, poultry, and egg products — meaning a dismantling of the nation's supply-management system. Canada balked at that demand in the previous round of negotiation, and the current round of talks in Mexico City made little progress over the weekend.
Drop the threat of NAFTA withdrawal, asks U.S. food and ag sector
A coalition of 100 companies and trade groups representing the U.S. food and agriculture sector says it supports President Trum's goal of modernization of NAFTA but, "We encourage NAFTA negotiations to continue without the threat of withdrawal." Trump has repeatedly threatened to scrap the tri-national trade agreement and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Canada and Mexico have more to lose than the United States if there is a rupture.
Canada and Mexico say U.S. asks too much for new NAFTA
With NAFTA negotiations at their midpoint, senior officials from Canada and Mexico accused the United States of seeking unfair trade advantages. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer sternly responded that the United States will no longer tolerate trade deficits.
U.S. asks Canada for more access to dairy, poultry and egg markets in NAFTA talks
Canadian officials say prospects of agreement on a new NAFTA by the end of the year are fading in the face of unacceptable U.S. demands, reports Canadian Press, with some analysts questioning if the true U.S. goal is a breakdown in negotiations. The chief U.S. negotiator told Bloomberg, "We made a request of Canada for improved access for dairy, poultry and eggs" over the weekend, the first time agricultural trade was discussed at the talks.
NAFTA gives Canada an unfair edge in ag trade, says Perdue
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue listed Canada's controls over dairy and poultry imports during a Fox Business interview in saying "some of the things left out of NAFTA" give Canada an unfair advantage in ag trade. At the White House, President Trump said, "It's possible we won't be able to make a deal" and the United States would seek a bilateral pact with Canada or Mexico.
With NAFTA at crucial point, U.S. farm leaders speak up for trade pacts
U.S. farm leaders turned up the volume in the debate over the new NAFTA, worried that the success story of food and ag exports isn't being heard among the clamor for tougher U.S. trade rules. "We have to be a player in the trade arena so we can move our product out of the country and feed the world," said Zippy Duvall, president of the largest U.S. farm group, during a teleconference on the importance of safeguarding market access in the NAFTA negotiations, now in the fourth of seven scheduled rounds of talks.
With NAFTA talks at crucial point, ag is on the table
The United States will put its agricultural trade proposals on the table with Canada as part of this week's round of negotiations for the new NAFTA, according to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. It's the fourth of seven scheduled rounds of talks and with limited progress so far, some analysts say the United States is trying to torpedo discussions with unacceptable demands of its North American neighbors.
Farmer optimism is waning for U.S. economic growth
Only four in 10 of the farmers polled for Purdue's Ag Economy Barometer say they expect the U.S. economy to grow in the year ahead, down sharply from the post-election euphoria that drove the monthly barometer to a record high in January. "Additionally, uncertainty regarding the future of agricultural trade, which an overwhelming majority of producers regard as important, could also be a concern for farmers when they consider future prospects," said the Purdue economists who run the barometer.
Negotiators agree on one chapter for new NAFTA, look to quicken pace
At the end of three rounds of negotiations on the new NAFTA, trade ministers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico said they are agreed on a chapter dealing with small and medium-sized enterprises, and that they hope to conclude a chapter on competition before the next round, set for Oct. 11–15 in Washington. A tri-national statement did not mention any discussion of agricultural issues, although “meaningful advancements” were cited in five areas, including the competition chapter.
Migrants, trapped in ‘open-air prison’ by U.S. policy pick the mangoes we love
In 2019 President Donald Trump threatened to levy a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods unless the country agreed to beef up its immigration enforcement. Mexico acquiesced and deployed troops along its southern border with Guatemala, limiting the free movement of migrants. As a result, countless people have been trapped in Tapachula, a sprawling border town, in what the international press has described as an “open-air prison.”