7 years, 2 months ago American Farm Bureau Federation, Jim Dewey
The U.S. and Mexican governments have already started planning to rework the longstanding North American Free Trade Agreement. But U.S. farm interests are already telling the White House not to tamper with agriculture.
U.S. agriculture and Mexican officials may be on the same page on farm trade as both want to keep the flow of free trade and profits NAFTA created. The U.S. is Mexico’s largest trading partner, and Mexico is one of U.S. agriculture’s largest export markets. Tougher U.S. barriers to Mexican imports could provoke Mexico to place trade barriers.
The message from U.S. agriculture: ‘Don’t tamper with success.’ National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Director of International Trade and Market Access, Kent Bacus said, "Because the U. S. beef industry, the Mexican beef industry and the Canadian beef industry have all benefited from NAFTA, our governments will be wise enough to leave beef alone." He said they would be wise enough to realize that the market has worked noting, "we are stronger together than we are trying to 'walk back' the bold terms that NAFTA represents."
Mexico last year ranked third in U.S. beef import volume and was second only to Japan in U.S. pork import value, at almost $1.4 billion, making up for deficits in China and Russia, and accounting for nearly 16-dollars a head in December, alone. Canada ranked third in value of its U.S. pork and beef imports. Bacus says, "It's hard to improve upon unlimited duty free access to both of these countries." Countries which he says, have grown to be one billion dollar export markets.
President Donald Trump has not tipped his hand on what he wants changed in NAFTA, though auto manufacturing is expected to be a top target. The president typically has far-reaching authority on trade, strengthened under ‘fast track’ authority, renewed by Congress in 2015. However, Trump would still have to come back to Congress for up-or-down final approval of any changes.
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The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold 18 confirmation hearings in the coming months for positions in the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. A confirmation hearing for Agriculture Secretary Nominee Sonny Perdue will be one of 14 for USDA positions, alone. The committee must also confirm replacements for three vacancies at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and one for the Farm Credit Administration board.
Senate aides told The Hagstrom Report that considering nominees for confirmation is a primary responsibility of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and will take priority over work on the next farm bill. The committee must confirm the USDA Secretary, Deputy Secretary and a group of Assistant Secretary and Undersecretary positions. Sources close to the transition efforts expect Sonny Perdue’s confirmation to come in early March.
