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Rally Supporting USMCA Held on Capitol Hill

Members of Congress and ag leaders attend event to support USMCA passage

President Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation. Source: AFBF
President Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation. Source: AFBF

Farmers for Free Trade held a rally on Capitol Hill to raise support for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Members of Congress, including House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and Ranking Member Mike Conaway, as well as ag leaders attended the event to discuss how USMCA provides growers with improved market access while maintaining the zero-tariff platform.

With NAWG being a member of Farmers for Free Trade, President Ben Scholz was slated to provide brief remarks during the rally.

“Over the past five years, Mexico has consistently been the top market for U.S. wheat exports,” stated Scholz. “USMCA retains tariff-free access to imported U.S. wheat for our long-time flour milling customers in Mexico. Further, the Agreement takes an important step towards fixing the Canadian grain grading system which automatically designates U.S. wheat imported as the lowest grade wheat which puts America’s wheat growers at a competitive disadvantage.”

But the benefits of the USMCA aren’t limited to only wheat farmers. When NAFTA was implemented, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico quadrupled from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $39 billion in 2017, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

"Farm Bureau members have come to Washington, D.C., to remind our elected representatives that trade is a lifeline for tens of thousands of family farms," says AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “We need Congress to pass the USMCA trade agreement to bring certainty to our already-positive trade relationship with our closest neighbors and build on that relationship with new opportunities and commitments.

"The benefits of the USMCA are clear," continued Duvall. "Estimates indicate we will gain more than $2 billion in additional farm exports and $65 billion in gross domestic product once the agreement is in place."

Trade with Canada and Mexico supports 12 million American jobs, and 49 U.S. states count Mexico or Canada as one of their top three merchandise export markets.

“NAWG calls on Congressional leaders and the Administration to find a path forward for USMCA this year,” continued Scholz with NAWG. “Agriculture desperately needs a win in trade and passing the USMCA will put us in the right direction. Once in place, USMCA will bring jobs and more certainty to rural America and across the United States.”

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