The 'New NAFTA' Will Boost Ag Exports by 1.1%

U.S. food and agricultural exports would increase by $2.2 billion, or 1.1%, with full implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the successor to NAFTA, said the U.S. International Trade Commission in a 379-page report issued Thursday. "Most trade in agricultural products between the United States, Canada, and Mexico is already duty-free under NAFTA and would continue to be duty-free under USMCA."

The ITC report, which moves the USMCA a step closer to congressional review, said the trade pact "would lead to small increases in U.S. exports to Canada of dairy products, poultry meat, eggs, and egg-containing products, as well as wheat and alcoholic beverages. At the same time, it would lead to a small increase in U.S. imports of sugar and sugar-containing products and dairy products from Canada."

U.S. farm groups generally support ratification of the USMCA. While the pact would offer marginal gains in trade, what the groups prize above all is maintenance of duty-free access to Canada and Mexico for most ag products. Mexico, for example, is the destination for one-fourth of U.S. dairy exports. Chief executive Jim Mulhern of the National Milk Producers Federation said the new free trade agreement would safeguard the largest export market for U.S. dairy products and remove barriers to sales in Canada.

A U.S. ITC release about the report is available here.

To read the report, click here.