Perdue Made Ag Case To Keep NAFTA

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made the case for agriculture regarding NAFTA to President Trump shortly taking over the USDA.  Shortly following his swearing-in ceremony last week, Perdue attended a White House round-table with farmers, and then discussed NAFTA with President Trump.  The conversation circled around a potential executive action terminating NAFTA.  Perdue said he told the President how important NAFTA is to the ag community.

“He wanted to know what would be the impact on agriculture, we tried to show him specifically there are some things we can gain in agriculture.  I think overall withdrawing from NAFTA would defiantly be a net loss to our ag community across the country, and we articulated that, we gave him facts to make a decision on.”

On Thursday, the President claimed a discussion with leaders from both Mexico and Canada prompted him to reconsider the termination of NAFTA, and opt to attempt renegotiation.  Perdue says he was happy to have the opportunity to speak up on behalf of the ag industry.

“Very glad this week that we were able to present him with data that he used to make what I believe the right decision to renegotiate NAFTA, send a strong signal that we’re serious not only to Mexico and Canada but also to Congress.”

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