WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National
Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) urge caution today as the Trump
Administration officially submitted to Congress its notice of intent to
renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The U.S.
wheat industry welcomes the opportunity for improving the framework for
cross border wheat trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico,
but would strongly oppose changes that might limit the current NAFTA’s
benefits for wheat farmers and their customers, particularly in the
Mexican food processing industries.
Since NAFTA entered into
force on Jan. 1, 1994, trade has boomed between the United States,
Canada, and Mexico. Specifically, NAFTA delivered a winning combination
of free trade on a level playing field and a growing Mexican middle
class with the income to demand better products, including food using
imported wheat. Following years of market development work and duty free
access, Mexico dramatically increased its U.S. wheat imports after
NAFTA and imports in the current marketing year are up 40 percent,
making Mexico our largest buyer.
“I cannot emphasize enough how
important our Mexican customers are to U.S. wheat farmers,” said Jason
Scott, a wheat farmer from Easton, Md., and USW Chairman. “There is
nothing wrong with modernizing a 23-year-old agreement, but that must be
done in a way that benefits the food and agriculture sectors in both
countries.”
Negotiating a new NAFTA certainly can make
improvements. A good place to start are the sanitary and phytosanitary
(SPS) rules that the three countries already agreed to as part of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.
“If the
administration intends on renegotiating NAFTA, it must guarantee growers
that new terms won’t reverse the significant benefits for U.S. wheat
farmers, like duty free access,” said David Schemm, a wheat farmer from
Sharon Springs, Kan., and NAWG President. “Despite the risks, there’s an
opportunity here to get better trade rules in place that will set the
gold standard for trade agreements going forward, without hurting wheat
farmers and their importing customers.”
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