USMCA Reviewed in Senate Finance Committee

Agriculture was part of a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Idaho dairy farmer Ted Vander Schaaf said Mexico and Canada are the top two export markets for U.S. dairy products. When pressed, Vander Schaaf said the dairy industry would like to see Canada change its approach to tariff rate quotas. “It seems that they will hand them out to people who can’t use them, therefore, our exports never get exported because nobody is requesting them,” said Vander Schaaf. “We need modification of language so it is fully utilized.”  USMCA comes up for a formal review this summer. The Trump Administration is considering he negotiation of bilateral trade deals with Canada and Mexico, rather than the current trilateral agreement. A coalition of more than 40 agricultural groups has been lobbying Congress and the Administration about the importance of the USMCA.