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USMCA review must address tariff circumvention, bring Canada to the table

The CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives says negotiations of the U.S.-Mexico- Canada Agreement need to address tariff circumvention.

Duane Simpson tells Brownfield some companies may be routing products through Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs, putting U.S. ag businesses and the farmers they serve at a competitive disadvantage.

“Whether it’s a crop protection product or steel and aluminum that you maybe would use, our members that are in the US would import that into the US and we’d pay a tariff.,” he says. “You could, from that same country, send it to Mexico and not pay a tariff. You could also send it from Mexico into the US and not pay a tariff. You’re not supposed to, but they’re skirting the rules.”

Officials from the U.S. and Mexico met in the last week, and Simpson says he’s optimistic that issue will be addressed. He’d also like to see Canada come to the table to address dairy issues. He says the Trump administration is trying.

“You saw it with some of the tariffs that he proposed this week that I think is intended to try to bring them to the table,” he says. “We certainly are encouraged there, but that’s the piece that’s probably the hardest one.”

He says it’s likely Canada is taking a different negotiation tactic than Mexico, and there could be some politics at play.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said the administration is pursuing separate bilateral negotiations with Mexico and Canada as part of the USMCA review.

NCFC members were in Washington D.C. this week to discuss the USMCA, ag labor, the farm bill and other ag policy efforts with lawmakers and the Trump administration.