News

Analyst: Road to USMCA passage could be rough

A veteran Washington D.C. farm policy analyst says the road to passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement could be a rough one.

Jim Wiesemeyer thinks USMCA will eventually be approved by Congress, probably in the second half of the year. But he says it won’t be easy.

“Everything is difficult in Congress, let alone multi-lateral trade agreements—and history tells you that,” Wiesemeyer says. “Although it’s going to be rough, I think it will eventually get through.”

Wiesemeyer says there’s plenty of speculation over when President Trump will lift the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He says that’s long overdue.

“Because when you go back to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement talks, he and others in his administration said those would be lifted once they had an agreement,” he says. “So that’s why there’s a little chagrin on the part of Canada and Mexico—and U.S. farmers.”

On China, Wiesemeyer expects an agreement to be signed by Presidents Trump and Xi in late March—and he says all indications are that agriculture will be “a major big winner” in that agreement. Brownfield spoke with Wiesemeyer at the Nebraska Governor’s Ag Conference in Kearney.

AUDIO: Jim Wiesemeyer

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!