World Grain - November 2018 - 17

Canada agrees to reworked NAFTA deal
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. - In what is being viewed as a generally positive development for North American grain producers, Canada
has agreed to join the United States and Mexico in a trade deal that
will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
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States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), are still being examined, the initial reaction from the agricultural sectors affected by the
deal has been favorable.
"No trade agreement has had more impact on our sector than
NAFTA, which prompted explosive growth in our export sales to
both countries as well as the development of a fully-integrated grains
and livestock supply chain within North America," said Jim Stitzlein,
chairman of the U.S. Grains Council. "Over the past two decades,
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sectors and economies of all three countries.
"We appreciate the dedicated, hard work of our negotiating team
to achieve this outcome with our neighbors and customers and look
forward to fully examining the new text as the process of approving
the new agreement begins a new phase."
Steve Mercer, vice-president of communications for the U.S. Wheat
Associates, told World Grain: "U.S. Wheat Associates is pleased that
the administration has put in such a strong effort to complete negotiations on a new agreement that, fortunately, includes Canada. Mexico
has imported more U.S. wheat the past two marketing years than any
other country and over the long term is one of our top buyers consistently. The NAFTA agreement underpins that trading relationship and
we hope the new agreement maintains that opportunity. There is a lot
to review in the new agreement and we look forward to digging into
the details to better understand its potential impact."
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is a milestone. Mexican and Canadian markets are very important
to American farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness. We commend
President Trump for his efforts to conclude this trilateral agreement.
We look forward to reviewing the agreement text released today."
The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and the North

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American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) issued a joint release
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in modernizing and further enhancing North American food and agricultural commerce."
"Given the integrated nature of the North American economy ...
it was extremely important to reach a trade agreement that included
all three countries," said Randy Gordon, president and CEO of the
NGFA, and Gary Martin, president and CEO of NAEGA.
They added, "Our industry is encouraged about reports that the
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agricultural trade, including dairy, and will preserve some form of
the trilateral Chapter 19 tariff dispute-settlement mechanism contained in the North American Free Trade Agreement."
The Canadian grain industry, including Cereals Canada, struck
a positive tone. Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, said the
USMCA will modernize the agreement in crucial areas, including
new chapters on biotechnology and new plant breeding techniques,
bringing the agreement up to date with modern technology.
"USMCA also sets the stage for equal treatment by the Canadian
grading system for farmers on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border,"
he said. "Again, this is a modernization that addresses issues that did
not exist when the original NAFTA was drafted."
Signed in 1994, NAFTA fundamentally reshaped North American
economic relations, driving an unprecedented integration between
Canada and the United States' developed economies and Mexico, a
developing country.
NAFTA has been a big winner for U.S. agriculture. Since NAFTA
was implemented 24 years ago, U.S. farmers have quadrupled their
exports to Canada and Mexico and the two nations rank second and
third, after China, as markets for U.S. farm goods.
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Mexico and the United States have tripled. Meanwhile, Mexico's results have been mixed, as some economists have blamed NAFTA for
exposing Mexican farmers, especially corn producers, to competition from heavily subsidized U.S. agriculture.

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World Grain - November 2018

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