WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — The U.S. and Mexico will meet again in Washington in September to continue USMCA talks after several days of meetings last week.
According to a joint statement, discussions covered agriculture, manufacturing and supply chains as negotiators continue working through differences on key issues.
USDA Under Secretary for Trade Luke Lindberg says Canada and Mexico remain critical export markets for U.S. agriculture, but the administration is working to address trade imbalances.
“We continue to hear a lot about USMCA. Canada and Mexico being our top two trading partners. I think about 17 percent of U.S. agriculture exports end up in Mexico and about 16 percent end up in Canada. We recognize these are critically important to our producers. At the same time, the trade deficits with both markets have ballooned. President Trump ran on and implemented a trade agenda that is designed to bring more reciprocity and balance to our trade.”
Lindberg says the administration has been working with Mexico and hopes to begin conversations with Canada soon.
“We still have not begun those conversations. Hope too soon, as they begin to address some of these critical, unfortunate ways they have implemented the US-Mexico-Canada agreement. And net-net, we recognize it is a big boom for U.S. farmers, but we need to fix some of these issues that have plagued our ability to access those markets in a fair and reciprocal way.”
RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney says getting all three countries back to the negotiating table could remain a challenge.
“We heard from Ambassador Greer earlier this week where he mentioned prior compromises don’t count to future things that are trying to be figured out, which really doesn’t incentivize Canada or others to really come to the table. Clearly this trade deal needs to be negotiated into totality, not step by step or sector by sector, because one thing doesn’t count towards the other. So that presents a challenge as well as the U.S. tries to get Canada back to the table faster.”
U.S. officials say they will continue working toward broader negotiations involving Canada.
