Washington, D.C. Jan. 16, 2020. Soy growers, other agriculture and business groups have rallied collectively for months to urge Congress to pass the “new NAFTA.” Today, on Jan.16, it happened! The American Soybean Association (ASA) expresses its strong appreciation to Senate leaders for passing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by an overwhelming 89-10 vote. With passage through both congressional chambers, USMCA will now move to the president’s desk for signature. This final step will ensure soy growers maintain access to two of their top markets.

“ASA has worked throughout the year to encourage legislative support for USMCA, so we appreciate Congress working with the administration, coming together for this bipartisan effort, and getting USMCA to the final step,” said Bill Gordon. “In addition to securing the Mexican market as the second largest importer of U.S. soybeans, the terms agreed to by Canada will increase U.S. poultry and dairy exports, which is also a positive for our industry.”

Mexico is the #2 market for whole beans, meal and oil, and Canada is the #4 buyer of meal and #7 buyer of oil for U.S. soybean farmers, making the trade agreement essential to sustaining the growth realized in those two countries under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Under NAFTA, U.S. soybean sales to Mexico quadrupled and to Canada doubled.

Gordon concluded, “We express our gratitude to Congress for making USMCA passage a priority, as it means we can start 2020 on a more positive note.”

The American Soybean Association (ASA) represents U.S. soybean farmers on domestic and international policy issues important to the soybean industry. ASA has 26 affiliated state associations representing 30 soybean producing states and more than 300,000 soybean farmers. More information at https://soygrowers.com/.

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