USMCA: Implementation Begins

Canada’s Parliament approved the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement last week.

U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer issued a statement saying now that the USMCA has been approved by all three countries, a historic new chapter for North American trade has begun.

He called it the “gold standard by which all future trade agreements will be judged.”

The Canadian House of Commons approved the trade deal midday Friday with the Canadian Senate following suit later the same day.

The USTR’s office says the three countries now have three months to hammer out the regulations that govern the mechanics of the agreement.

The USMCA is expected to increase annual U.S. agricultural and food exports by $2.2 billion, or 1.1 percent, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. That comes from small increases of U.S. dairy, poultry, wheat and alcohol exports to Canada.

More sugar and products with sugar would come to the U.S. from Canada.
In 2018, Mexico and Canada were the two biggest buyers of U.S. farm goods, representing $40 billion in sales.