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Nebraska lawmaker says USMCA vital for secure ag supply chains

A Nebraska Congressman says it’s vital that USCMA continues to provide safe and secure supply chains for producers and consumers.

Adrian Smith says the trilateral trade agreement includes a provision – called Rules of Origin – to help prevent ag products from other countries entering the U.S. market like food ingredients and other products. “We want to be able to leverage that and be stronger for it. We know that China would love to disrupt it or get around it. The fact that there would be an attempt to get around that, we need a stronger USMCA.”

Rules of Origin help determine whether products qualify for the agreement’s tariff-free benefits.

He tells Brownfield he’d also like to see a faster dispute settlement process included in any updated agreement. Smith says Mexico’s objections to biotech corn are an example of why the evaluation needs to move more quickly. “We prevailed on all 7 points to that dispute. I’m glad we prevailed, but it also tells me can we shorten that process a little bit so that both sides of that dispute can get a resolution in a timely fashion.”

USCMA is scheduled to enter its joint-review process next month.  

Adrian Smith: