The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has benefited both the American and Mexican agriculture industries, and Mexico is optimistic about the prospects of modernizing the trade agreement, Mexican Ambassador Gerónimo Gutiérrez told more than 200 corn farmers gathered today in Washington at the National Corn Growers Association’s semiannual meeting.
“Our agricultural trade through NAFTA has been a success for all parties,” said Ambassador Gutiérrez. “The challenge is that none of us should stay in our comfort zone. If we want to achieve a win-win trade modernization, we must keep active. There is no guaranteed outcome.”
Ambassador Gutiérrez expressed a strong desire to continue strengthening agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico, but he also acknowledged that Mexico must keep its options open and is looking to other markets to secure his nation’s grain supply.
NCGA President Wesley Spurlock thanked the Ambassador for his remarks and echoed the importance of NAFTA to U.S. corn farmers.
“NAFTA has made the agriculture industry stronger in both the U.S. and Mexico. We thank Ambassador Gutiérrez for his remarks today, and we share his desire to protect a strong agriculture trade relationship between our countries,” said Spurlock.
“The Ambassador engaged in a productive dialogue with our farmers, who will be on Capitol Hill this week reinforcing the importance of a trade policy that strengthens existing markets such as Mexico and develops new ones to ensure U.S. agriculture keeps its global competitive edge,” said Spurlock.
Earlier this week, the Trump Administration released its NAFTA negotiating objectives ahead of modernization talks, which are scheduled to begin later this summer.
“We are encouraged that the Administration’s NAFTA objectives reflect that the Trump Administration has been listening to corn farmers and other voices in agriculture on trade,” said Spurlock. “We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with the Administration as the hard work of NAFTA modernization begins.”
COVID-19 Resources
NCGA is taking a series of actions to do our part to help contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the economic fallout it is creating for corn farmers and our customers. Short term, this means instituting policies to protect the health and safety of our stakeholders and the broader communities we serve. Long term, we’re focused on creating solutions to help corn farmers and our customers recover from the financial impacts of this crisis.
CommonGround
CommonGround is a group of farmers connecting with consumers through conversations about science and research and personal stories about food and misinformation surrounding farming. Supported by the NCGA and state corn organizations.
SHP
The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by NCGA the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.
