Ag groups join forces to call for USMCA renewal

By TAMMIE SLOUP
FarmWeek 

Under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, sales of U.S. grain and other products continue to soar. Leaders of all three nations must begin a formal review by July to determine whether to renew. (Photo by Catrina Rawson of FarmWeek)

Since the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) took effect in 2020, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have increased by $20 billion, far outpacing export growth to the rest of the world.

But the value of the agreement goes beyond export values, National Corn Growers Association Chief Economist Krista Swanson said during a news conference Feb. 10 on the Agricultural Coalition for USMCA’s new economic impact study.

Forty farm and agricultural groups, including American Farm Bureau Federation, this month launched the coalition, underscoring the USMCA’s vital role as an economic engine for the U.S. farm economy and calling for its renewal with targeted improvements as the administration approaches the 2026 mandatory review in July.

“The purpose of this economic impact study was to go beyond the export values that I just highlighted and to better understand what those exports mean for the broader U.S. economy,” Swanson said. “While we know the dollar value of trade and the certainty that it provides to corn farmers and growers of other crops and our agricultural markets, we wanted to quantify the wider economic effects that come with stable markets and strong rural communities.”

The analysis found:

  • Ag and seafood exports to Canada and Mexico generated $149 billion in total economic output, supporting nearly 500,000 jobs and $36 billion in wages.
  • Every $1 in industry exports under USMCA drove an additional $2.45 of supported economic activity in the U.S.
  • USMCA-related agricultural and seafood trade contributed $64 billion to U.S. gross domestic product and supported $13 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue.

Under the agreement, leaders of all three nations must begin a formal review by July 2026 to determine whether to renew. If renewed, the agreement would remain in effect for an additional 16 years, with another review scheduled in 2032. If the countries fail to reach an agreement and move to terminate, USMCA will expire in 2036. The review could also enter a period of annual consultations with no clear path forward, creating significant uncertainty for the farm economy.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer last month said while there is value with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the U.S. will not rubberstamp the agreement with its current shortcomings.

The coalition is focused on ensuring the agreement remains in place with targeted improvements that preserve market access, provide long-term certainty and keep American agriculture competitive.



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“While the agreement is due for a few targeted improvements overall, it is critical to the farm economy, and it is certainly helpful to rural America, particularly during tough economic times like we are in right now,” Swanson said. “Without USMCA, agriculture would lose a critical source of stability, face reduced market access and fewer opportunities at a time when rural America can least afford disruption.”

Swanson said her organization is asking for greater clarification on biotech rules and advocating for greater ethanol access in Mexico.

“We are just looking to preserve market access and keep trade flowing predictably,” she added.

For the U.S. dairy sector, exports to Canada and Mexico totaled $3.6 billion in 2024, representing 44% of all U.S. dairy exports, said Shawna Morris, National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council executive vice president for trade policy and global affairs.

“Year over year, we’ve seen how this agreement can support not just trade flows, but collaborative work to expand the total demand for dairy products between our countries by building on the base of the trade agreement, and that’s what makes USMCA so important,” she said.

However, the agreement is not perfect, she said.

“Most notably, Canada still has a lot of work to do to hold up its end of the bargain on dairy,” Morris said. “For years now, Canada has been playing games with access to its dairy tariff rate quotas, and that’s resulted in shortfalls in export access the U.S. negotiated for. They’ve also circumvented key disciplines introduced on Canadian dairy exports to limit distortions in other markets. These are longstanding issues held over from the initial negotiations that must finally be tackled in the review.”

Fresh produce is an industry that depends on daily cross-border movement and highly integrated supply chains. The coalition’s analysis shows USMCA is vital, not just to U.S. produce farmers, but the entire supply chain, International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) Chief Global Policy Officer Alexis Taylor said.

Based on the economic report, $2.81 billion of fresh fruit was exported to Canada and Mexico in 2024 and similarly, almost $2.5 billion of fresh vegetables were exported to Canada and Mexico since USMCA was enacted, she said.

“Fresh fruit export values have increased by 34% and U.S. vegetable exports have grown by 14%,” Taylor said. “These outcomes really reflect the value of a trade framework that provides certainty for perishable products that must move quickly and predictably across the North American continent.”

One of IFPA’s priorities is ensuring trade and regulatory rules are fair and transparent and consistently applied, “so that all producers are competing on a level playing field and ultimately ensuring that consumers have affordable access to fruits and vegetables,” Taylor said.



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Illinois Farm Bureau submitted comments during USTR’s public consultation process last year, noting the review should focus on broadening market access opportunities while preserving the agreement’s existing benefits to support continued trade growth among the three nations. IFB also supports reforms that would eliminate or reduce tariff barriers, eliminate redundant regulatory costs, expedite transit across borders and hasten the resolution of disputes between members to help farmers compete. Additionally, IFB supports elimination or reduction of trade barriers of U.S. dairy products into Canada.

To learn more about the Agricultural Coalition for USMCA, visit AgforUSMCA.com.

 

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.