THE US National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers are expected to call on Congress to ratify the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The four organisations will also be calling on the Trump Administration to keep the current NAFTA agreement intact until the new agreement is ratified, AJOT reported.



Mexico and Canada account for 25 per cent of all US agriculture exports and USMCA preserves and builds upon the existing trading relationship between the United States, Canada and Mexico.



'Mexico and Canada are the US corn industry's largest, most reliable corn market; Mexico is corn's number one buyer and Canada is one of our largest ethanol importers. We cannot afford to risk losing this market,' said NCGA president Lynn Chrisp.



'USMCA is NCGA's top legislative priority for 2019 and we will be working closely with the Administration and members of Congress to get it ratified.'



ASA president and a soybean grower from Kentucky, Davie Stephens, said: 'Passage of USMCA would boost both national and rural economies, and for soybeans, it would assure us tariff-free access to two strong markets, including Mexico which is our number two market for whole beans.



'Under NAFTA, soybean exports to Mexico quadrupled and to Canada doubled. We would like to continue that positive trade momentum with our neighbours.



'USMCA includes important provisions for wheat farmers including tariff-free access to imported US wheat for our long-time flour milling customers in Mexico.'



NAWG president Jimmie Musick, commented: 'The agreement makes important progress toward fixing the grading issue US farmers face when exporting their wheat to Canada. NAWG, ASA, NCGA and NSP will continue to work together to get this critical trade deal enacted.'



'The new USMCA agreement with Mexico and Canada is a win for American producers and having an agreement in place will safeguard the traditional second largest importer of US sorghum,' said National Sorghum Producers chairman Dan Atkisson.


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