Protecting global trade has local implications

Rural Americans tend to be fiercely loyal to local. We cheer for the hometown sports teams, participate in county fairs and festivals, frequent neighborhood businesses and support community causes.

When it comes to agricultural trade, however, local becomes global. In fact, one in every four acres planted by U.S. farmers is used to grow crops for export. U.S. food and agricultural exports support more than 1 million jobs and generate more than $200 billion in additional economic activity each year in rural communities and beyond.

America produces much more food than it can consume, and U.S. agricultural exports have risen significantly in recent years, including a record of nearly $196 billion in 2022 and nearly $175 billion in 2023. During these years, our biggest export markets were China, Mexico and Canada.

Coincidentally, last month marked the five-year anniversary of crucial trade deals with these three countries. The Phase One Trade Agreement with China was signed on Jan. 15, 2020, followed by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) a couple of weeks later on Jan. 29, 2020—both inked by President Trump during his first term in office.

The Phase One China agreement was negotiated to ease tensions that had been escalating since early 2018 when the U.S. imposed tariffs and trade barriers on the Asian country over concerns about unfair Chinese practices. China retaliated with its own tariffs that especially hurt U.S. farmers. The Phase One deal waived those tariffs and contained provisions to balance trade, curb intellectual property theft and open Chinese markets for U.S. exports, including ag products.

"Our farmers rely on access to robust, open and fair international markets."

The USMCA, on the other hand, was an overhaul of its predecessor, the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which widened market access with our neighbors to the north and south. Not only did the USMCA continue this free trade environment, but it also modernized the pact with improved intellectual property rights, labor standards, environmental protections and provisions for new technology. And American agriculture has benefited. Mexico is now the largest export market for U.S. corn and No. 2 for soybeans. The USMCA also gave the U.S. greater access to Canadian dairy, egg and poultry markets.

However, such trade agreements may be up in the air if President Trump, who officially began his second term Jan. 20, makes good on his campaign pledge to impose tariffs on global imports—particularly Chinese, Canadian and Mexican goods. As of press time, the president had stopped short of implementing those plans on inauguration day as promised but had signed an executive order directing federal agencies to deliver a sweeping review of U.S. trade policies by this spring. 

From the outside, it’s hard to know what is a negotiating tactic and what may actually filter down to have concrete effects on ag export markets. What we do know is that farmers here rely on access to robust, open and fair international markets. If existing trade agreements become more restrictive or hostile, the U.S. could lose critical markets. And for American farmers, trade isn’t optional—it’s essential.    

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