Ag Ministers Hopeful For USMCA Deal To Be Ratified

Both Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue issued statements last week regarding their hope for a ratified USMCA deal in the next few months

with files from Reuters

Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said on Thursday that he had discussed steel and aluminum tariffs with his North American counterparts and was hopeful the issue would be addressed

“But it’s never over till it’s over, with any legislation”

 

Agriculture groups in the U.S. have certainly voiced their support of the USMCA deal going forward on the heels of President Trumps State of the Union address, where Trump spoke specifically to urging passage of the deal. For Farmers, ranchers and manufacturers in the U.S., as well as Canada, the continued volley of reciprocal tariffs over the steel dispute has seen the agriculture industry coping with economic hardship.

Yet the minister’s are confident resolution is in the near future.

“Minister Perdue, Secretary Villalobos, and myself have spoke about trade issues, steel and aluminum tariffs, and the problem it is causing for our countries, and our hope that it will be addressed,” MacAulay said at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual forum in Washington.

He was referring to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Mexican Agriculture Minister Victor Villalobos.

Perdue also stated that he hopes the United States will ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal known as USMCA by summer, after Congress has a chance to understand the accord’s provisions.

“I would hope, certainly… I am always optimistic… by summer,” he said at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual forum in response to a question about when USMCA would be ratified. “It’s never over till it’s over, with any legislation.”