The renegotiated North America Free Trade Agreement passed through Congress with unanimous support from Montana’s congressional delegation.
#USMCA is great news for our farmers and ranchers. Look forward to @realDonaldTrump signing it into law soon. pic.twitter.com/lt3cawDA7R
— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) January 16, 2020
Both Sens. Steve Daines, a Republican, and Jon Tester, a Democrat, voted in support of the free trade agreement Thursday. The NAFTA rewrite is now called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., supported the agreement when the Democratic House majority brought it to passage before Christmas.
Certainty in our agricultural markets is everything. After years of market volatility, the passage of USMCA will help MT producers regain that certainty. We'll continue the fight to expand market access so our producers can show off their world-class products and turn a profit.
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) January 16, 2020
The trade revision was described as beneficial to U.S. auto manufacturing and to setting trade terms for a digital economy that didn’t exist 27 years ago when NAFTA was signed into law. For Montana, the biggest change was to the way Canada grades varieties of U.S. wheat. For years, Canada has classified most U.S. wheat varieties as animal feed quality, which made trucking wheat to Canada a money loser for Montana farmers.
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The new trade terms require Canada to recognize the quality of U.S. varieties, regardless of whether they are registered in Canada. The USMCA also smooths out the North American policies on crop biotechnology.
The Billings-based Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America, objected to the Senate action because lawmakers made no effort to restrict the importation of Canadian and Mexican cattle by the U.S. meatpacking industry. R-CALF USA has for years decried the imports for driving down the cattle prices paid to U.S. ranchers. The group has also been a leader in creating country-of-origin labeling for retail beef products. COOL, as the labeling program is called, has been opposed by Canada, which has threatened to impose billions of dollars in tariffs on U.S. goods if labeling persisted.
"The combination of cattle and beef is the leading agricultural import from Canada and Mexico. We sell those countries less than $2 billion in cattle and beef each year and turn around and buy over $4 billion of the very same products,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, in a press release.
The USMCA was strongly supported by farm groups recognizing Canada and Mexico as the United States’ two largest trade partners. Former U.S. Sen Max Baucus teamed up early with former Montana Grain Growers President Michelle Jones to promote USMCA.
Jones on Thursday responded to the USMCA vote by noting that Mexico is the biggest consumer of U.S. wheat and barley, a crucial buyer of Montana malt barley for beer production.
Montana does more than $700 million in trade with Mexico and Canada annually, according the U.S. Trade Representative.
Today the Senate votes to pass #USMCA ....
— Michelle Jones (@bigskyfarmher) January 16, 2020
Mexico is the #1 market for US wheat and barley.
Thanks to @SteveDaines for supporting Montana farmers by supporting #USMCA. @FarmersForTrade @wheatworld #wheatindc pic.twitter.com/QcQgqdtZOf
USMCA was the first major trade agreement to receive Tester's approval.
“Every Montanan working in production ag knows you need certainty and open markets to move your products,” said Tester, who is an organic farmer. “The USMCA will help Montana producers regain the stability they’ve lost under this Administration and makes progress on critical issues like Canada’s discriminatory wheat grading practices. Enforcement is critical for this deal moving forward, but we can’t take our eye off the ball on expanding access to markets around the world so Montana producers have more avenues to turn a profit.”
Tester held a trade discussion meeting with stakeholders in Billings last year. Subsidies related to trade losses were skyrocketing. Farmers told Tester they wanted an end to U.S. trade wars. Tester chided President Donald Trump for not taking the concerns of Montana wheat farmers seriously.
Daines as a member of the Senate Finance Committee had a hand in bringing USMCA to passage. He highlighted the terms for digital trade and market access secured for farmers and ranchers.
“This deal provides certainty for Montana ag and protects critical access to our two biggest trading partners. I’m thankful for President Trump’s leadership getting this done, and look forward to it being signed into law,” Daines said in a press release after Thursday’s vote.
Montana agriculture groups saw benefits in the first-stage U.S.-China trade pact announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump.