Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 2/14/17

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Donald Trump yesterday downplayed the extent of changes he will seek in U.S./Canadian trade as he looks to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"We'll be tweaking it, we'll be doing certain things that are going to benefit both of our countries," Trump said at a joint news conference with Trudeau on Monday. "It's a much less severe situation than what's taken place on the southern border. On the southern border, for many, many years the transaction was not fair to the United States. It was an extremely unfair transaction."

The U.S. agricultural industry has been watching closely for signs of how the Trump Administration will proceed on NAFTA.
Last month, more than 130 agricultural trade groups and companies sent the new administration a letter asking that NAFTA re-negotiations be approached in ways that expands on gains it has already helped the sector achieve.

In that letter, the groups noted that while some gaps in U.S. export access remain, in the 20 years since NAFTA was implemented, U.S. food and agriculture exports to both Canada and Mexico have more than quadrupled, growing from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $38.6 billion in 2015.

Last year, Canada was the fourth largest importer of U.S. beef and beef variety meats, behind Japan, South Korea and Mexico. It was also the fourth largest importer of U.S. pork, behind Mexico, China/Hong Kong and Japan, according to U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) statistics.

The U.S. also imports Canadian meats and live animals.

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