USMCA USMCA and Apples Pt 2

USMCA USMCA and Apples Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. We talked yesterday about the U.S., Mexico, Canada Agreement and getting Congress to ratify it for the sake of North American trade. U.S. Apple Association President Jim Bair says having new Democratic leadership in the House could jeopardize passage of the deal, but ratification in Canada and Mexico worries him less ...

BAIR ... "I think that we represent such an important market to them for not necessarily just agriculture, but auto parts and other important things that are key components of their economy so I don't foresee that it's going to have the same sort of problem in passage that it might have here in the United States."

Worries the President may follow through on his threats to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA altogether would be a major setback ...

BAIR ... "That would be a mistake and it would be painful because with NAFTA we quadrupled our apple exports to Mexico, we doubled our apple exports to Canada. So, when people including the President say that NAFTA was the worst trade deal in history, we say it was the best trade deal in history and the prospect of going back to the days before NAFTA we think would be a mistake and that's why we're calling on cooler heads to prevail and let's just get this thing done and get back to doing what U.S. agriculture does best."

Bair says going back to pre-NAFTA trade would revert to tariffs of 20-percent for the apple industry.

Signing of the USMCA took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in November.

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