WASHINGTON — As the required six-year review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) approaches on July 1, nearly 160 food and agricultural organizations — including the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and Pet Food Institute (PFI) — have signed a joint letter urging their nations’ trade representatives to renew and strengthen the trade pact.
The letter was sent on June 1 to Ambassador Jamieson Greer, with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Canada-US Trade Representative Dominic LeBlanc and Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy Marcelo Ebrard.
Advocacy groups across sectors have argued that to be globally competitive, continuing the efficient and seamless integration between the three countries is crucial. They point out that USMCA represents one of the largest trading blocs in the world, with more than 500 million people, a $30 trillion-dollar GDP and a trade volume of $1.7 trillion.
The Agricultural Coalition for USMCA was a signatory and played a key role in organizing the letter. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) launched the coalition and helps direct the group’s initiatives.
“(USMCA) strengthens the resilience of our integrated agricultural markets, and over the past 20 years has made North America the most food-secured region in the world,” the letter said. “All three nations share the responsibility of protecting and strengthening this competitive advantage, which is essential not only to economic prosperity, but also to national security and regional stability.”
USMCA went into effect in July 2020 with the stipulated six-year review on July 1, 2026. All three countries must agree on a path forward, which could mean extending the agreement for another 16 years, terminating the agreement or entering a period of annual consultations.
Agricultural organizations from all three countries are pushing their governments to uphold and strengthen the agreement to provide certainty amid challenging economic conditions. Signers of the letter said they hope to see a commitment to renewing the agreement as the negotiations surrounding the USMCA Joint Review continue and advance.
The United States and Mexico held the first negotiating round of the USMCA six-year review from May 28 to 29. Negotiating topics included economic security and rules of origin for key industrial goods. The next round, scheduled for June 16 to 17, is expected to include negotiations on “agriculture and a level playing field,” according to the USTR, with a third round the week of July 20 in Mexico City.
“Without this trade agreement, North America is more vulnerable to countries that employ trade-restrictive policies that negatively impact the movement of food from areas of surplus to deficit,” the letter said. “(USMCA) is key to maintaining a competitive global advantage that reduces reliance on distant supply chains and encourages investment across the region.”
The groups noted that the agreement has eliminated regulatory barriers for all three countries, increased regulatory transparency and ensured science-based treatment of agricultural commodities and products.
“(USMCA) creates an environment that can mitigate trade challenges instead of spurring escalation,” the letter said. “This is especially important as the entire food and agriculture supply chain is grappling with high input costs, low commodity prices, natural disasters and global unrest. Price increases are difficult in any time but especially now.”
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