The Trump Administration has kept its word on renegotiating NAFTA, securing a preliminary United States–Mexico Trade Agreement Monday that promises to be a mutually beneficial win for North American farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesses.
The Administration says the preliminary agreement will benefit American workers, American manufacturing, and American agriculture, through provisions including:
- New “rules of origin” requirements to incentivize billions a year in vehicle and automobile parts production in the United States, supporting high-wage jobs.
- The strongest, fully enforceable labor standards of any trade agreement.
- New commitments to reduce trade-distorting policies for agricultural goods.
- Improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.
- Strong and effective intellectual property protections.
- The strongest disciplines on digital trade of any international agreement.
- The most robust transparency obligations of any United States trade agreement.
President Trump also said he wanted to get rid of the name NAFTA because it has “bad connotations.” Negotiations with Canada are expected to follow immediately.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement regarding the announcement on trade between the United States and Mexico:
“President Trump is delivering on his promise to renegotiate the old, outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), making good on his pledge to strike the best deals possible for all of our economic sectors, including agriculture. The President has achieved important improvements in the agreement to enable our agricultural producers to be treated more fairly. This breakthrough demonstrates that the President’s common-sense strategy of holding trading partners accountable will produce results. President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer, our U.S. Trade Representative, are to be congratulated for their determination, vision, and leadership.
“The agreement specifically addresses agricultural biotechnology to keep up with 21st Century innovations. And we mutually pledge to work together with Mexico to reduce trade-distorting policies, increase transparency, and ensure non-discriminatory treatment in grading of agricultural products.
“This is nothing short of a great victory for farmers and ranchers, because locking in our access to Mexican markets is critical to supporting farm income and strengthening rural communities. Mexico has historically been a great customer and partner and we are happy to have this resolved for our agricultural producers.
“We now hope that Canada will see the need to settle all of the outstanding issues between our two nations as well, and restore us to a true North American Free Trade Agreement.”
The United States — Mexico trade agreement will now head to Congress as it will require congressional approval.
