Trump signs new trade agreement with Canada, Mexico

After more than a year of negotiations and compromises with the neighbors of the United States and with Congress, President Donald Trump signed Wednesday a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Montana’s U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, both Republicans, attended the singing ceremony with Montana Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka.

Daines applauded being at the ceremony with Gianforte and Cuffe.

“It’s a great day for Montana’s farmers and ranchers,” Daines said in a release issued after the signing.

Gianforte also praised the signing.

“It was great to be at the White House with President Trump as he signed the USMCA,” he said in a statement sent to the Havre Daily News. “Securing access to our top trading partner, the new trade deal is a win for Montana farmers and ranchers. USMCA will create nearly 200,000 new American jobs and increase ag exports by more than $2 billion. President Trump deserves a lot of credit for delivering trade agreements that work for America and Montana.”

 Montana’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Jon Tester, also lauded the event, but with some reservations.

“Now that the agreement is signed into law, we need to focus on making sure it’s strictly enforced so that Montana producers regain the stability they’ve lost under this administration,” Tester said in a press release Wednesday. “Montanans know we need certainty and open markets to keep our ag producers thriving, so it’s critical we focus on expanding access around the world so Montanans have more avenues to turn a profit.”

Trump, who has made trade a signature issue of his administration, started talking about replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement — NAFTA — negotiated in the 1990s, early in his tenure.

In October 2018 at a G7 convention, he signed the new agreement with Canada and Mexico, but the agreement was held up in Congress.

Democrats expressed concerns the agreementh ad problems including U.S. workers potentially losing jobs to Mexico, issues with prescription drug prices, problems with environmental standards and the agreement lacking concrete enforcement methods.

After nearly a year in revisions — with regular complaints from Republicans about the delay — passed both the House and Senate with major bipartisan support, including “Yea” votes from all three members of Montana’s congressional delegation.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the agreement will help the country.

“Today is a good day for American agriculture,” Perdue said in a release Thursday. “Throughout this process, there were many detractors who said it couldn’t be done. But this is further proof that President Trump’s trade negotiation strategy is working. This agreement shows the rest of the world the United States is open for business. USMCA is critical for America’s farmers and ranchers, who will now have even more market access to our neighbors to the north and the south. I am excited to see the economic benefits of this agreement increase the prosperity of all Americans, especially those living in rural America.”

Montana Farm Bureau Federation also praised the signing.

“Montana Farm Bureau has worked very hard, along with American Farm Bureau, to get the USMCA ratified and we’re thrilled with President Trump for standing with farmers and ranchers and signing this extremely important agreement,” MFB President Hans McPherson said in a release Wednesday. “We’d like to thank our Congressional delegation for their support and realization that this agreement is vital to Montana agriculture.

“Agriculture is Montana’s number-one industry, and these excellent trade deals increase the demand for our agricultural products,” he added. Everything good for agriculture is good for Montana. The signing of this important agreement is truly a highlight for the ag community as well as for consumers, and it points to a bright future for farmers and ranchers.”

The MFB release said USMCA is expected to increase agricultural exports from the U.S. by $2 billion and result in an overall increase of $65 billion in gross domestic product. 

Under the agreement, the release said, Canada will increase quotas on U.S. dairy products, benefitting American dairy farmers by $242 million. 

Canada will treat wheat imports the same as domestic wheat for grading purposes, which is especially important to Montana. Montana has had a dispute for years on wheat grading with their neighbor to the north. Mexico has agreed that all grading standards for ag products will be non-discriminatory. The agreement also enhances science-based trading standards among the three nations.

The MFB release said USMCA comes on the heels of a string of trade successes. The China Phase 1 Agreement signed last month goes into effect in mid-February. The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement signed last fall went into effect this month, which was especially important to Montana’s cattle ranchers.

Some economists have been skeptical of some of those agreements, saying, for example, the China agreement’s two-year duration is too short, the agreement lacks enforcement and it does not remove tariffs already in place in what has been termed a U.S.-Chinese trade war.

Trump began using tariffs as a negotiating tool, especially targeting in China’s unfair and predatory trade and research practices.

The release from Tester’s office said the senator has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s trade war and has pushed to hold the administration accountable by passing legislation to give Congress a role in imposing tariffs. The release said he has heard about the impact of these tariffs firsthand, holding in-person listening sessions with Montana farmers, ranchers and small business owners about the consequences of the trade war.

But, the release adds. USMCA’s signing was applauded by agriculture groups across Montana.

“The Montana Grain Growers Association thanks Sen. Tester for supporting Senate passage of the USMCA,” said Montana Grain Growers Association President Vince Mattson. “This important trade agreement gives our farmers some stability with two of our largest trading partners in the world. It will serve as a pathway to better markets, improved prices and act as a stepping stone for many more trade agreements in the future.”

“The Montana Farm Bureau thanks Sen. Tester for his support of the USMCA,” McPherson said in the release. “This trade agreement is essential for Montana’s farmers and ranchers to have commerce with two of our largest trading partners. Montana Farm Bureau has been working hard to see this agreement pass, and we truly appreciate Sen. Tester’s dedication to the USMCA and its benefit to Montana agriculture.”

“I appreciate Sen. Tester fighting to bring an end to these unnecessary trade tensions by passing USMCA,” said Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer. “While I am disappointed this deal fails to address important issues like country of origin labeling, it represents progress in raising labor and environmental standards. Let’s get this done so we can move on to expanding markets for family farmers and ranchers.”

“We are pleased to see positive movement on the Senate side and support from Sen. Tester on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” said Montana Stockgrowers Association President Fred Wacker. “This agreement will preserve duty-free, unrestricted access for U.S. beef exports to Canada and Mexico, which will provide our Montana ranchers the certainty they need.”