Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces Democrats in the House will vote to support the President’s sought after renegotiated trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
The USMCA will replace NAFTA, and Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says the deal will be a major lift for Louisiana’s agriculture exports.
“When you talk about NAFTA, and you go back 30 years now, there was not a lot of discussion of intellectual property, protections for seeds, dealing with vital sanitary issues, so it’s a much fairer deal,” says Strain.
Strain says expert estimates show the deal may generate as much as 67 to 75 billion dollars more a year for the American economy.
Mexico is Louisiana’s number two trading partner behind China, and Strain says this deal will open up the Mexican market to new items like Louisiana poultry, and expand the market for old mainstays.
“We send a lot of rice, we send a lot of corn and a lot of other commodities there. We send a lot of cotton there from Louisiana, and a lot of that is spun right there in Lacassine by Lake Charles,” says Strain.
Louisiana currently exports 8.3 billion dollars’ worth of agriculture products per year.
The deal requires partners to relax import restrictions on American products, mandates Mexico adopt better labor standards, and provides legal avenues for settling intellectual property disputes.
“This trade agreement is critical, it sets down the rules of the road, and opens the door for trade and economic prosperity for both countries,” says Strain.
Strain notes a new trade deal with Japan appears to be imminent as well.
