Letter to the Honorable Robert Lighthizer, US Trade Representative - Negotiations on NAFTA

Letter

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:

As you prepare to begin negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we write to emphasize the economic significance of agricultural trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico and the critical role that NAFTA plays in the trade relationships.

NAFTA has been an important trade agreement for the United States for more than 20 years. While we strongly support continued participation in the agreement, we also support the administration's effort to review and strengthen NAFTA. Given the significance of agricultural products in U.S. exports, we request that you avoid any revisions to NAFTA and other previously negotiated trade agreements that would diminish the opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers to export their products, particularly given the current depressed state of the agriculture economy.

Since NAFTA was signed into law in 1993, Canada and Mexico have been two of the top five destinations for U.S. agriculture products. Last year, the two countries accounted for 28 percent of the value of total agriculture exports from the United States. Since NAFTA's enactment, livestock and meat exports to Canada have doubled and agriculture commodity exports to Mexico increased significantly. The longstanding trade agreement between the three countries has proven to be an important success within the agriculture industry.

As Senators representing states with significant agricultural exports, we appreciate the careful approach the administration is taking to strengthen the NAFTA agreement, while ensuring that no changes are made that could result in harm to U.S. agriculture. We look forward to working with you throughout the congressional consultation process to ensure that NAFTA continues its substantial economic contributions to U.S. farmers and ranchers and to the growth of our agricultural conomy.

Sincerely,