Agricultural and business groups testified Wednesday about the benefits of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, calling for a 16-year extension of the trade deal, while President Donald Trump disparaged trade with the two countries and again suggested he isn’t interested in renewing the trilateral agreement.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said, “I’m not looking to renew it because to be honest with you, the United States does much better. We don’t need anything that Canada has, we don’t need anything that Mexico has, but they need everything that we have, and they have to treat us better.”
Trump has a history of making similar statements to use as possible leverage in negotiations. He frequently criticized both Canada and Mexico before reaching the USMCA agreement, which Trump signed in 2020.
Since the USMCA was enacted, the value of ag exports to Canada and Mexico has increased by 47% compared to only 18% for the rest of the world sector. Mexico and Canada remain the top two overall markets for U.S. agricultural exports — due in part to a collapse in sales last year to China. At the same time, agricultural trade between the three countries still makes up the bulk of the U.S. agricultural trade deficit at $24.5 billion last year.
USDA data shows U.S. agricultural exports to Canada were $28.2 billion in 2025 but we imported $39.3 billion in Canadian agricultural products.
Agricultural exports to Mexico in 2025 were $30.6 billion while the U.S. imported $44 billion in agricultural products from Mexico.
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