Perdue: USMCA Better Than Expected

Ag Secretary Perdue says the updated NAFTA, now known as USMCA, gives American agriculture more than was envisioned when the negotiating process began.  Perdue told the North American Meat Institute Symposium last week that he's had a chance to talk about the trade deal with Canadian Ag Minister Lawrence MacAuley.

"…and while he's getting beat up a little bit, we are aligned to make sure that this agreement works out for the better betterment of both of our countries, all three of our countries."]

Perdue noted the original intent for agriculture in the NAFTA negotiations was to "do no harm", but  he said it's turned out better than that.

"We get better access for dairy, better access for poultry, for eggs,  We get the wheat grading issue resolved, we get the wine issue resolved in British Columbia and those are all improvements in where we were."

Perdue said from here, the United States will go after new agreements with the EU, Japan, India, and China.

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