SOUTH TEXAS (RFD News) — The formal review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact is scheduled for July 1, marking the six-year review date built into the agreement. As negotiations move forward, a South Texas farmer and lawmaker are voicing their views on what should be included in trade discussions with Mexico.
When it comes to agriculture, Texas Farm Bureau State Director Brian Jones said fair trade with Mexico remains important.
“Mexico is our number one ag trading partner, and so definitely we need to continue that, but we also need to build on that,” Jones says. “Sorghum and corn are both huge exports into Mexico, and those are covered under USMCA, and so we would like to see those continue on.”
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat representing Texas’ 34th Congressional District, said his district, his state, and the country have benefited from USMCA. However, he would like to see more done in areas where agricultural trade is important along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We need to do more to ensure that these places are safe and that trade can move, can flow freely without being extorted by criminal organizations, and I’m not talking about only on the border, but further into Mexico,” Rep. Gonzalez explains.
Gonzalez noted that, in his district, cartels are stealing a lot of the prosperity generated by trade.
“A lot of our trade is being held hostage,” Gonzalez continues. “People are having to pay a tax — not to the government, but to cartels and criminal organizations — and they do it through lawyers; they do it through security companies; some of them do it straight up through customs brokers, and that’s just nonsense.”
The Texas Farm Bureau also wants to see an update to the 1944 treaty outlining Mexico’s water payments to the United States. Jones said the organization hopes the treaty can be tied to USMCA and believes Mexico’s handling of water deliveries is affecting producers in the Rio Grande Valley. Gonzalez agreed and said there needs to be enforcement to ensure compliance with the treaty.
With a changing economy and a growing middle class, Jones added he hopes negotiations continue on an equal basis as Mexico’s economy expands.
As the review of USMCA approaches, corn growers are closely watching the agreement’s future.
Nancy Martinez with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) joined us on Tuesday’s Market Day Report to discuss what USMCA has meant for the corn industry.
In her conversation with RFD News, Martinez discussed the agreement’s impact on corn demand and its role in supporting U.S. corn exports.
“The USMCA has been very beneficial for the corn industry. Mexico is the same size as the second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-largest markets for corn,” Martinez told RFD News. “Under USMCA, we saw a 93 percent increase in value and uncovered a very big number that USMCA represents 1.8 billion bushels of corn demand. That means 20 billion dollars to the U.S. economy, and that’s also 70,000 jobs that are directly tied to corn exports under USMCA.”
Martinez also discussed the upcoming review of the trade pact and opportunities for future growth.
“We see USMCA as a tool to preserve markets, but also to expand markets,” she said. “We have a success story with ethanol exports to Canada. We do not have that same success story with ethanol exports to Mexico, and that’s definitely an area that we can see growth in on USMCA.”
Martinez also emphasized the importance of keeping momentum behind the trilateral agreement as growers navigate the current state of the farm economy.
