News

Farmers for Free Trade: new trilateral deal will help farmers

The executive director of Farmers for Free Trade says there is good and bad news when it comes to the new U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement.

Brian Kuehl says farmers across the country are relieved that there is no longer a threat of the U.S. withdrawing from a trade agreement with two of the top trading partners.

“We’ve dodged that bullet and we’re happy that we have an agreement that looks like at this moment it will allow NAFTA to carry forward whether it’s called NAFTA or not is irrelevant,” he says. “It’s a three-country agreement that’s going to be stabilized with no tariffs on most products.”

He tells Brownfield although the new trade deal provides certainty to farmers, tariffs still need to be addressed.

“We put tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel, they in turn put tariffs on U.S. ag and food products and those tariffs are still in place even with this new deal,” he says. “So if you’re a pork producer or if you’re shipping grain to Mexico, you’re still at a competitive disadvantage to other countries in the world.”

Kuehl says removing tariffs will help farmers get back on equal footing with trading partners.

Audio: Brian Kuehl, Farmers for Free Trade