U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) and U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) cited the benefits coming to their home-state farmers in light of the preliminary United States trade agreement with Mexico announced by the White House on Monday.
Canada now has rejoined negotiations with the U.S. and Mexico and all three countries are scrambling to make a trilateral deal by Friday’s deadline to update the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“Today’s announcement of a two-way trade agreement with Mexico is a step in the right direction. I’m pleased to see President Trump making good on his promise to provide better certainty for Nebraska farmers and ranchers,” said Sen. Fischer in an Aug. 27 statement.
Her Nebraska colleague in the U.S. House, Rep. Bacon, noted in his own statement that the state’s 2016 corn exports to Mexico totaled almost $300 million, while Nebraska’s beef exports were $134 million in 2017, making it “the largest exporting state of beef for the second year in a row,” he said.
“Trade agreements are vital to Nebraska’s economy and … an agreement with Mexico to change parts of NAFTA is good news,” said Rep. Bacon. “This announcement is very welcome and I look forward to reviewing this agreement and am optimistic it will help boost Nebraska’s ag and business economies.”
With the U.S.-Mexico draft deal, Sen. Fischer is hopeful it “will send a positive signal to our other NAFTA partner, Canada, that the United States is committed to modernizing trade agreements.”
Sen. Fischer, who previously met three times with U.S. President Donald Trump urging him to consider trade’s importance for her state, also pointed out this week that NAFTA countries account for 45 percent of Nebraska’s total agricultural exports and Mexico is the state’s second-largest customer, according to her statement.
Sen. Ernst also commended the U.S.-Mexico trade deal this week and said that together with Canada, the three countries “make up one of the most competitive and successful regional economic platforms in the world.”
“While I am still reviewing the deal, the president’s fulfillment of a core promise to revamp trade deals brings more certainty to our markets, more money in our pockets, and more confidence to Iowa – and American – farmers, ranchers and manufacturers,” said Sen. Ernst.
In Iowa – where there are roughly 87,500 farms, the majority family-owned – the senator noted that farmers and ranchers have been “saddled with low commodity prices and escalating trade disputes” due to the ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and its partners.
Sen. Ernst said the two-way trade deal reached by the United States and Mexico “is huge news for Iowa’s farmers and ranchers, and is a monumental step to help restore both market certainty and confidence across rural America.”