LINCOLN, Neb. –  Nebraska Farm Bureau President, Steve Nelson, urged the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to focus on maintaining the growth in agricultural trade with Canada and Mexico as the Trump administration begins the process of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement later this year.
NEFB submitted comments asking the Trump administration to remember that, commodity by commodity, the importance of the trade agreement can’t be minimized when it comes to the impacts it has on Nebraska and Nebraska farm and ranch families.
“In 2016, Nebraska exported over $2.4 billion worth of products to Canada and Mexico with agricultural products making up $1.5 billion of that total. Mexico alone is Nebraska’s second largest trading partner, with Nebraska farmers and ranchers exporting $1.3 billion worth of agricultural products which supports nearly 1,200 jobs,” Nelson said last week.
Nebraska is an agriculturally diverse state. NEFB members produce an array of agricultural products. From sugar beets and dry edible beans in the Panhandle, cattle in the Sandhills, to corn, soybeans, wheat, hogs, and even fruit and vegetables, all help make Nebraska an important world leader in food, fiber and fuel production.

“Most of the success that Nebraska farmers and ranchers have experienced trading on the world stage, has largely been due to the free trade agreements the United States has signed with numerous countries around the world. In 2015, exports to countries with free trade agreements (FTA) accounted for 53 percent of Nebraska exports (NAFTA; Korea; Australia; CAFTA; and Israel),” he said. “From 2005-15, exports from Nebraska to free trade agreement markets grew 104 percent, with growth in NAFTA trade far outpacing that with other FTA countries,” Nelson said.
While the agricultural sector has seen substantial benefit from NAFTA, there are some individual American commodities that have faced challenges such as tomatoes, other fruits and vegetables, and sugar with Mexico. There are also challenges for dairy, specialty and row crops, lumber, wine, and other with Canada.
“Despite the clear and numerous benefits, there are reasons to update and reform NAFTA from agriculture’s perspective. Some improvements include reducing redundant regulatory costs, expediting transit across borders, and hastening the resolution of disputes between members that would go a long way toward establishing more efficient trade between NAFTA partners,” Nelson said.
Another good example for a needed update would include the rules related to biotechnology, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and geographic indicators. These areas are ripe for amendment to reflect the progress that has been made over the decades since NAFTA was first implemented.
“We also believe negotiations should address how U.S. agricultural exports to Canada would grow if tariff barriers to dairy, poultry, and eggs were reduced or eliminated. Many of these issues were addressed in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the language of which could be used as the basis for the changes needed in some of these areas,” Nelson said.
Negotiations will begin no earlier than Aug. 16 and the USTR will post a notice requesting public input on content for negotiations.