Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 8/23/17

 In the latest twist in the ongoing dialogue about the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), President Trump on Tuesday once again threatened to end the pact that has been a boon to the beef and pork industries.

"Personally I don't think we can make a deal because we have been so badly taken advantage of," Trump told a rally of supporters in Arizona. "They have made such great deals, both of the countries but in particular Mexico, that I don't think we can make a deal. So I think we'll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point, OK, probably. But I've told you from the first day that we will renegotiate NAFTA or we will terminate NAFTA. I personally don't think you can make a deal without a termination but we're going to see what happens.” 

Trump, who had vowed to end NAFTA during the 2016 presidential race, was reportedly pulled back from the brink of ending the trade pact in April, in part by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, who brought a map to an Oval Office meeting to show the president how much of his base lived in farm country, an industry that has benefited from NAFTA.

For several months now, meat industry groups including the North American Meat Institute, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association have repeatedly issued statements warning of dire consequences for their industries if beef and pork trade were disrupted. 

Pork
Last week, as NAFTA re-negotiations were set to begin, NPPC President Ken Maschhoff said, “U.S. pork trade with Canada and Mexico has been very robust, and we need to maintain and even improve that trade. We will continue to work with the administration to make sure that happens in a modernized NAFTA. We want to reiterate to the Trump administration that NAFTA has been a boon to the U.S. pork industry and to all of American agriculture.”

According to NPPC, since NAFTA went into effect Jan. 1, 1994, U.S. trade north and south of the borders has more than tripled, growing more rapidly than U.S. trade with the rest of the world. Canada is the No. 2 market for U.S. agricultural products; Mexico is No. 3.

For the U.S. pork industry, Canada is the No. 4 market, and Mexico is No. 2. Last year, the industry shipped almost $799 million of pork to Canada and nearly $1.4 billion to Mexico. Those exports help support more than 16,000 U.S. jobs.

Beef
In July, as preparations to renegotiate parts of NAFTA were in progress, NCBA President Craig Uden said, “As we have said before, it is difficult to improve upon duty-free, unlimited access to Canada and Mexico—and we are pleased that USTR’s objectives for NAFTA include maintaining existing reciprocal duty-free market access for agricultural goods.” Uden said NCBA would continue to support the inclusion of strong sanitary and phytosanitary standards in NAFTA. 

Both Canada and Mexico are top U.S. beef importers.

This week’s comments
When asked, the U.S. Meat Export Federation sent Meatingplace this statement: “USMEF appreciates the challenges associated with re-negotiating a complex trade agreement such as NAFTA, but we remain confident that our trade negotiators can achieve President Trump’s objectives without jeopardizing the provisions of NAFTA that have been extremely beneficial to the U.S. red meat industry.”

NPPC declined to comment on the statements Trump made yesterday.

“NAFTA has been a great benefit to the U.S. meat and poultry industry and we have actively shared its positive impact with the Administration," said NAMI President and CEO Barry Carpenter. "While NAFTA renegotiation talks are in their early stages, the Meat Institute is optimistic that the Administration will work with Canada and Mexico to maintain and improve robust agricultural trade, and meat trade in particular, as the three countries work toward a final agreement.”

Kent Bacus, NCBA's director of international trade and market access, said, "I'm not sure how much more we can say. NAFTA has created lucrative export markets for US beef and withdrawing from NAFTA will have a devastating impact on America's ranching families. We encourage the Administration to stick to the negotiations and try to improve the status quo for those who need it as quickly as possible. Rhetoric is one thing, but the reality for farmers and ranchers across the country is something else entirely.”

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