By Kenneth Rapoza
President Trump might be fine with upending the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ahead of the July 1 review deadline, but the House Agriculture Committee is not. Their June 10 hearing on USMCA showed near unanimous support for the agreement, with six witnesses representing farmer associations and multinational exporters, led by the Meat Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber witness even threw in comments about removing Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs as well.
“Republicans have long supported pinpointed tariffs if someone is treating us unfairly. We don’t support global tariffs,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-2). “Free trade is best for consumers.”
This view seems to have bipartisan support on the Committee. It’s all about market access and exports. “Strong and predictable export environments are critical for farmers and producers,” said Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24).
At many points during the Q&A session, members appeared to be speaking the language of the exporters. Despite threats of U.S. tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, mostly by Canada, ongoing restrictions of live cattle exports from Mexico due to phytosanitary concerns involving screwworm disease, the vast majority of food items traverse the borders of Mexico, U.S., and Canada duty free.
“Duty free trade has served us well, and the Chamber is clearly against Section 232 tariffs – especially aluminum – which are damaging to businesses and manufacturers, and food packaging,” Chamber witness Neil Herrington said. [Testimony]
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