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Cargill says enforcement of USMCA a must

The chief of global corporate affairs at Cargill has testified before a House Ways and Means subcommittee in support of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement and strong enforcement provisions. Devry Boughner Vorwerk is also a member of the USMCA Coalition, “Contrary to popular belief, our coalition also wants to ensure that labor and environment – which are the highest standards of any trade agreement that we’ve had thus far – have the ability to be enforced.”

Boughner Vorwerk says Cargill has successfully used provisions in the current NAFTA to recoup illegal duties. And while she says the USMCA does have broad-based enforcement language, she and others on the panel say it is not detailed enough.

Boughner Vorwerk testified that the USMCA is essential to Cargill’s business, “Last year, at our facilities in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and across the Midwest, we sourced and processed nearly 21-Million-metric-tons of corn and soybeans from U.S. farmers, a substantial portion of which was exported to our NAFTA partners.”

It is unclear from the panel discussion whether the USMCA would have to be reopened to include stronger enforcement provisions. Democrats generally oppose the agreement citing labor and enforcement concerns.