USMCA
Pence tells Iowa, ‘I came … to turn up the heat’ on USMCA
Time is running short for President Trump to win congressional approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement this year, with lawmakers set to work just eight weeks before adjourning in early December. Vice President Mike Pence called on House Democrats on Wednesday to set aside their “partisan impeachment” inquiry and approve the USMCA.
A victory lap on Japan, prodding on USCMA
U.S. farm groups celebrated anew on Monday Japan’s agreement to reduce or eliminate tariffs on $7.2 billion worth of American goods, including beef, pork, poultry, wheat, cheese, wine, and ethanol. President Trump used the ceremonial signing of the pact at the White House to urge congressional approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Prospects dim for USMCA this year, says CoBank
Impeachment inquiry casts shadow on ‘new NAFTA’
President Trump is creating instability in the farm sector with his periodic threats to withdraw from NAFTA, said the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Also at an Agriculture hearing on Wednesday, farm groups called for speedy passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has been put in doubt by the opening of an impeachment inquiry in the House.
Chinese delegation to visit U.S. farms next week
In what may be an opening in the Sino-U.S. trade war, a group of Chinese officials will tour U.S. farms next week, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday.
The road to China runs through the USMCA, say backers
At a farm group rally on Thursday for approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, two senior members of the U.S. House said that action on the USMCA would carry benefits in resolving the Sino-U.S. trade war.
September is for USMCA deal-making, says Grassley
Mild recovery forecast for U.S. ag exports after a trade war tumble
U.S. farm exports plunged by an abrupt 6 percent this year due to the Sino-U.S. trade war and a worldwide slowdown in economic growth, but they will rebound mildly in the year ahead, said the USDA on Thursday. However, the agency’s first forecast of exports in fiscal 2020 excluded the impact of a promised mutual escalation this fall of the trade war between China and the United States.
New agreement will govern imports of tomatoes from Mexico
The Commerce Department and Mexican tomato growers initialed a new agreement that, beginning on Sept. 19, will control U.S. imports of roughly $2 billion a year worth of fresh tomatoes from Mexico, said officials from both nations on Wednesday.
For livestock groups, USMCA and year-round labor visas are top priorities
Trump: USMCA vote will be ‘very bipartisan’
On Thursday, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seated at his side, President Trump predicted a “very bipartisan” vote in Congress for adoption of the so-called new NAFTA, though when the House will vote on the trade pact is unclear.
Mexico ratifies USMCA; Trudeau and Trump to discuss pact today
Mexico’s Senate ratified the “new NAFTA” on a 114-4 vote on Wednesday, making Mexico the first country to approve the free trade agreement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is to meet President Trump at the White House Thursday to discuss the path forward on the pact.
Some ‘plussing up’ needed before White House seeks USMCA vote
Time for a deal with China, say farm-state senators
Half a dozen farm-state senators urged Trump trade officials on Thursday to speedily resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war that is compounding hard times on the farm. Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts brushed aside assurances of a rosy future when trade deals are completed. “Some farmers aren’t going to make it,” he said.
Mexico to buy ‘large quantities’ of U.S. ag exports, says Trump
Without providing details, President Trump said on social media over the weekend that Mexico, the largest U.S. food and ag trade partner, would "immediately begin buying large quantities of agricultural product from our great patriot farmers." Purchases were not mentioned in a joint declaration by the North American neighbors to avert temporarily Trump's threat to impose tariffs on all imports from Mexico unless it acted to restrict crossings at the southern U.S. border.
Chaotic spring may lead Trump administration to loosen limits on trade aid
USDA lawyers may have an answer this week on whether Trump tariff payments, intended to mitigate the impact of the trade war, can be given to farmers unable to plant a crop this year, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday.
Trump tariffs target top U.S. ag trade partner
Just months after retaliatory tariffs deposed China as the leading customer for U.S. farm exports, President Trump threatened import duties of up to 25 percent on Mexico, the No. 1 food and ag trade partner of the United States. Farm groups fear the trade war will cut deeper into the shrinking global market for U.S. crops and livestock.
White House starts the march to a vote on the new NAFTA
U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to congressional leaders on Thursday to trigger the process of approving the new NAFTA. The draft of a so-called statement of administrative action allows the Trump administration to submit the trade deal to Congress within 30 days.