The ‘Big Four’ commodity groups have come out in support of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers announced their support for the USMCA during today’s general session of Commodity Classic.

Mexico and Canada account for 25% of all U.S. agriculture exports and USMCA preserves and builds upon the existing trading relationship between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Members representing the four organizations will be advocating members of Congress to ratify USMCA this year while also urging the administration to keep the current NAFTA agreement intact until the new agreement is ratified.

“Mexico and Canada are the U.S. corn industry’s largest, most reliable corn market; Mexico is corn’s number one buyer and Canada is one of our largest ethanol importers. We cannot afford to risk losing this market,” said NCGA President Lynn Chrisp. “USMCA is NCGA’s top legislative priority for 2019, and we will be working closely with the Administration and members of Congress to get it ratified.”

“Passage of USMCA would boost both national and rural economies, and for soybeans, it would assure us tariff-free access to two strong markets, including Mexico, which is our No. 2 market for whole beans. Under NAFTA, soybean exports to Mexico quadrupled and to Canada doubled. We would like to continue that positive trade momentum with our neighbors,” said Davie Stephens, ASA President and a soybean grower from Clinton, Kentucky.

Related:Trade dominates 2019 commodity groups’ wish lists

“USMCA includes important provisions for wheat farmers including tariff-free access to imported U.S. wheat for our long-time flour milling customers in Mexico. Further, the agreement makes important progress toward fixing the grading issue U.S. farmers face when exporting their wheat to Canada,” stated NAWG President and Sentinel, Oklahoma wheat farmer Jimmie Musick.

"The new USMCA agreement with Mexico and Canada is a win for American producers, and having an agreement in place will safeguard the traditional second largest importer of U.S. sorghum," said National Sorghum Producers Chairman Dan Atkisson, a sorghum farmer from Stockton, Kansas. "We look forward to expanded market opportunities with Mexico, and urge Congress to pass the measure as soon as possible."

“We applaud the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers, and National Sorghum Producers for announcing their endorsement of the USMCA,” said Dennis Slater, president, Association of Equipment Manufacturers. “A healthy farm economy and a strong equipment manufacturing industry go hand-in-hand. By ratifying the USMCA, Congress will ensure two of the most important markets for agriculture producers and for equipment manufacturers, Mexico and Canada, stay strong. Once the USMCA is ratified, U.S. farmers can more reliably invest in their businesses, which will greatly benefit our industry’s 1.3 million U.S. workers.”

Related:Is new North American trade deal good for U.S. agriculture?

Equipment manufacturers contribute $188 billion combined to the U.S. and Canadian economies. Canada is the largest export market for U.S. manufacturers of heavy equipment and a more than $10 billion per year export market for U.S. equipment manufacturers. Mexico is a more than $2 billion per year export market for U.S. equipment manufacturers.

This past week, AEM joined the USMCA Coalition, a collection of over 200 organizations, including U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Association of Manufacturers, with an objective "to secure congressional approval of the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement."

Source: National Corn Growers Association, American Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.