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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Trump told reporters at the White House that he is not looking to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, stating that “we don’t need anything that Canada has, we don’t need anything that Mexico has.” In response, Farmers for Free Trade Board Chairman Bob Hemesath, a corn and hog farmer from northeast Iowa, released the following statement:
“American farmers are rightly going to be concerned by today’s comments that the administration is not looking to renew USMCA. Failing to extend and strengthen this agreement would be a self-inflicted wound for American agriculture at the worst possible moment. U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have grown by $20 billion since USMCA took effect, reaching $60 billion in 2024, and those two markets now buy roughly one-third of everything American farmers sell abroad. That trade supports nearly half a million American jobs and $149 billion in economic output here at home. While the agreement is not perfect, the venue for improving it is through this negotiation.
“With respect, the notion that America does not need anything from Canada does not match the reality on my farm or any farm I know. The United States imports roughly 90 percent of its potash, and more than 80 percent of those imports come from Canada. There is no substitute and no domestic supply that can replace it. Without Canadian potash, American crops simply do not get planted at full strength, and food prices rise for every American family. The Joint Review is an opportunity to extend and strengthen an agreement the President himself negotiated and that has delivered real results for rural America. Farmers across the heartland are counting on our leaders to seize this opportunity, not to walk away from our two largest and most reliable customers.”
SOURCE: Farmers for Free Trade
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