Trump to sign USMCA Wednesday

Jan 27, 2020

Mexico has already ratified the deal but Canada still needs to do so

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

President Trump is expected to put his signature on a trilateral trade agreement this week.

The president will participate in a United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signing ceremony on Wednesday at the White House, multiple reports indicate.

“This is a major accomplishment for the president and he will be taking this on the road in the coming weeks,” an administration official told Reuters.

Last week, the Senate voted 89 to 10 in favor of approving the agreement and sending the deal to the president’s desk for signature.

Mexico has already ratified the agreement and Canada is expected to begin the ratification process this week.

As part of the agreement, U.S. wheat will be graded on the same plane as Canadian wheat.

Representatives from wheat-producing states are excited about the opportunities the USMCA provides.

“Kentucky’s farmers are ready to take advantage of USMCA’s innovations that will strengthen and expand markets for their crops,” Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote in a guest op-ed on Jan. 24. “Canada and Mexico bought more than (US)$300 million of the Bluegrass State’s agricultural products in 2018. At a time when Kentucky growers are tightening their belts, we should do everything in our power to encourage more consumers to buy their wonderful products.”

Farms.com has reached out to farm groups for comment on the USMCA signing.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.