Released by Southeast Ag Net on Dec. 10, 2019 …
Secretary Perdue on USMCA Agreement
(USDA) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement after United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced agreement on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):
“USMCA is a big win for American workers and the economy, especially for our farmers and ranchers. The agreement improves virtually every component of the old NAFTA, and the agriculture industry stands to gain significantly,” said Secretary Perdue. “President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer are laying the foundation for a stronger farm economy through USMCA and I thank them for all their hard work and perseverance to get the agreement across the finish line. While I am very encouraged by today’s breakthrough, we must not lose sight – the House and Senate need to work diligently to pass USMCA by Christmas.”
Background:
USMCA will advance United States agricultural interests in two of the most important markets for American farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses. This high-standard agreement builds upon our existing markets to expand U.S. food and agricultural exports and support food processing and rural jobs.
Canada and Mexico are our first and second largest export markets for United States food and agricultural products, totaling more than $39.7 billion food and agricultural exports in 2018. These exports support more than 325,000 American jobs.
All food and agricultural products that have zero tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will remain at zero tariffs. Since the original NAFTA did not eliminate all tariffs on agricultural trade between the United States and Canada, the USMCA will create new market access opportunities for United States exports to Canada of dairy, poultry and eggs, and in exchange the United States will provide new access to Canada for some dairy, peanut and a limited amount of sugar and sugar-containing products.
Earlier this year, nearly 1,000 American food and agriculture associations and companies announced their support for USMCA and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture signed a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to ratify USMCA.
In September, all former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture since President Reagan’s Administration announced support for USMCA. In a letter to Congressional leaders (PDF, 86.0 KB), former Secretaries John Block (Reagan), Mike Espy (Clinton), Dan Glickman (Clinton), Ann Veneman (W. Bush), Mike Johanns (W. Bush), Ed Shafer (W. Bush) and Tom Vilsack (Obama) underscored the importance of passing USMCA saying, “We need a strong and reliable trade deal with our top two customers for U.S. agriculture products. USMCA will provide certainty in the North American market for the U.S. farm sector and rural economy. We strongly support ratification of USMCA.”
Key Provision: Increasing Dairy Market Access
- America’s dairy farmers will have expanded market opportunities in Canada for a wide variety of dairy products. Canada agreed to eliminate the unfair Class 6 and 7 milk pricing programs that allowed their farmers to undersell U.S. producers.
Key Provision: Biotechnology
- For the first time, the agreement specifically addresses agricultural biotechnology – including new technologies such as gene editing – to support innovation and reduce trade-distorting policies.
Key Provision: Geographical Indications
- The agreement institutes a more rigorous process for establishing geographical indicators and lays out additional factors to be considered in determining whether a term is a common name.
Key Provision: Sanitary/Phytosanitary Measures
- The three countries agree to strengthen disciplines for science-based measures that protect human, animal and plant health while improving the flow of trade.
Key Provision: Poultry and Eggs
- U.S. poultry producers will have expanded access to Canada for chicken, turkey and eggs.
Key Provision: Wheat
- Canada agrees to terminate its discriminatory wheat grading system, enabling U.S. growers to be more competitive.
Key Provision: Wine and Spirits
- The three countries agree to avoid technical barriers to trade through non-discrimination and transparency regarding sale, distribution, labeling and certification of wine and distilled spirits.
Source: USDA
Farm Bureau Asks for Swift USMCA Approval
(AFBF) — The following statement may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall:
“We urge members of Congress to swiftly approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Agriculture is at a critical crossroads with the downturn in commodity prices, losses from natural disasters and the trade war. This is an opportunity for Congress not only to help U.S. farmers and ranchers turn the corner on trade, but also show that Washington can still get things done on a bipartisan basis.
“Ratification of the USMCA would build on the momentum of the U.S.-Japan agreement, which gave a major boost to American agricultural products in our fourth-largest market, and send a signal that the U.S. is back in business in the international marketplace.
“We urge Congress to work toward speedy approval. America’s farms and ranches are depending on you.”
USMCA BACKGROUND
Designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, the USMCA builds on important trade relationships in North America. The agreement is expected to increase U.S. ag exports by $2 billion and result in a $65 billion increase in gross domestic product.
The agreement will provide new market access for American dairy and poultry products while preserving the zero-tariff platform on all other ag products. In particular, the agreement gives U.S. dairy products access to an additional 3.6 percent of Canada’s dairy market – even better than what was proposed in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
U.S. wheat will receive fairer treatment, thanks to Canada’s agreement to grade our wheat no less favorably than its own.
Mexico and the United States have also agreed that all grading standards for ag products will be non-discriminatory.
Additional provisions enhance science-based trading standards among the three nations as the basis for sanitary and phytosanitary measures for ag products, as well as progress in the area of geographic indications.
The agreement also includes measures that address cooperation, information sharing and other trade rules among the three nations related to agricultural biotechnology and gene editing.
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
NCBA Applauds Movement on USMCA
(NCBA) — National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Jennifer Houston issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement that the U.S. House of Representatives will soon move forward on the U.S.- Mexico -Canada Agreement (USMCA):
“There is no higher policy priority for America’s beef producers than maintaining our duty-free access to Canada and Mexico, and that’s exactly what the USMCA will do. The Trump Administration and Speaker Pelosi deserve credit for working together to get this deal done, and now is the time for Congress to approve USMCA so our producers can move forward with the certainty they need and deserve.”
Source: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Mexico Approves USMCA Revisions; NPPC Calls for Congressional Vote This Year
(NPPC) — Mexico approved U.S. changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, paving the way for a congressional ratification. The Trump administration worked closely with Congressional Democrats to address their concerns in the revisions to the agreement. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) applauds the administration, Congress and the governments of Canada and Mexico for working hard to fine-tune the trade deal so that Congress can vote this year.
“Mexico’s approval of USMCA changes proposed by the United States is welcome news for U.S. pork producers and all of American agriculture,” said NPPC President David Herring, a pork producer from Lillington, North Carolina. “Members of Congress can count on hearing, yet again, from pork producers as NPPC is unleashing a grassroots call to action. We want a vote this year and NPPC will score this critically important trade agreement as a key vote.”
Last year, Canada and Mexico took over 40 percent of the pork that was exported from the United States and a similar percentage is expected this year. U.S. pork exports to Canada and Mexico support 16,000 U.S. jobs. Last year, U.S. pork exports to Mexico totaled $1.3 billion and exports to Canada totaled $765 million.
Source: National Pork Producers Council
USMCA Agreement a Win for U.S. Chicken Producers; NCC Urges Swift Passage
(NCC) — The National Chicken Council (NCC) issued the following statement after the announced agreement on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):
“USMCA will maintain and improve market access for U.S. chicken in our top two markets in terms of value, Mexico and Canada,” said NCC President Mike Brown. “It will also positively impact both the U.S. agriculture sector and the broader national economy.
“On behalf of America’s chicken producers, I want to thank President Trump for his leadership and for the tireless work of the administration, including Agriculture Secretary Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer. After a year of negotiations, the time to act is now. We encourage swift Congressional consideration and passage of USMCA before Christmas.”
Source: National Chicken Council