Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a hot topic. But as things heat up at the federal level, state and provincial ag leaders are trying to keep cool. Last week, delegates from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico were united in their support of NAFTA and the call to “do no harm.”
Agricultural officials from U.S. and Mexican states, and Canadian provinces, met last week at the 26th annual Tri-National Agricultural Accord. The event is held each year in a different member country. This year, the event was held in Denver, CO.
“As we gather this year, we are faced with challenges as our federal governments are conducting negotiations on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” said Steven Reviczky, president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the group that hosted the event.
“It is imperative that we—as state and provincial leaders—stick together on the importance of our tri-lateral relationship, the importance of NAFTA for agriculture, and the importance of our continuing work together to build the integrated, prosperous north American agricultural economy.”
Event organizers claimed this year’s accord saw the largest participation by the U.S. delegation ever seen. Reviczky cited this as evidence of the importance of the ongoing federal-level NAFTA talks.
Jeff Leal, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, stressed the importance of the state-/province-level talks to the wider NAFTA renegotiation.
“NAFTA has always served us well at home, but it has also elevated the North American exports, making our countries more competitive and an economic force on an international basis,” he said.
“Given that agriculture has recently been the focus of NAFTA renegotiations, it is my sincere hope that we can continue to work together to carry this positive message forward to the key decision makers in our national capitals.”
Secretary of Rural Development Hйctor Padilla, the Mexican delegate from Jalisco, had even stronger words for the value of state- and province-level NAFTA discussions. Speaking through an interpreter, he voiced a lack of confidence in the federal-level talks.
“So that’s why we’re doing it.”
During a press conference with ag media, Padilla called upon the federal governments “to be near the state, local, and provincial governments,” stressing the role of local involvement to agricultural productivity and innovation.
“We propose that a representative from each of the states should be incorporated into each of the federal teams that are doing this renegotiation,” Padilla added. “That way, they will have more certainty, a better perception of the impacts, and will be closer to the reality of their decisions.”
Uncertainty
Ag media representatives asked the three delegate leaders how nervous their communities are about the renegotiation of NAFTA.
“I think it is undoubtable that we are very nervous, both producers as well as the commercial side of the three countries,” answered Padilla. “If we aren’t successful with this new negotiation phase, we will all lose. The effects will be felt at every one of the states and provinces of our three countries.”
“Until we get a definitive agreement, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” he went on. “This uncertainty could affect the economic viability and activity because it undermines the faith and confidence of our consumers.”
Leal cited history in addressing the risk of uncertainty and trade isolationism.
“We know that the Great Depression became great because world trade was frozen for well over a decade. But after the second world war, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the allies around the world brought about trade liberalization that increased the wealth of the world as has never been seen,” he said.
“We must always keep that in our focus. There are millions of jobs today that rely on the flow of goods between our countries and our nations see the benefit of taking this good agreement, modernizing it, and making it even better.”
Reviczky opined that there are opportunities to modernize NAFTA that will benefit all of agriculture.
“We’re encouraging federal officials to pursue greater market access for U.S. products, especially into Canada. We want to enhance the opportunities for state and provincial agricultural officials to provide input to our federal governments and we want to enhance regulatory cooperation and coordination.” — Kerry Halladay, WLJ editor
