Trilateral Industry Letter Supporting CUSMA

Dear Ambassador Greer, Minister LeBlanc, and Secretary Ebrard,

The undersigned organizations representing the American, Canadian, and Mexican food and agricultural value chains submit this letter in support of a renewal and strengthening of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) / U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) / Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC). Our organizations represent North American farmers, producers, distillers, ranchers, seafood harvesters, agribusinesses, grain handlers and exporters, animal health, agricultural co-operatives, and retailers who have benefited tremendously from the economic fortitude that CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC provides. CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC strengthens the resilience of our integrated agricultural markets and over the past twenty years, has made North America the most food secure region in the world. All three nations share the responsibility of protecting and strengthening this competitive advantage, which is essential not only to economic prosperity, but also to national security and regional stability.

In order to remain globally competitive, the efficiencies and seamless integration between the United States, Canada, and Mexico are crucial. CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC represents one of the largest trading blocs in the world, with over 500 million people, a $30 trillion-dollar GDP, and a trade volume of $1.7 trillion. The strength of this trilateral partnership wielded in CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC allows North America to remain globally competitive, particularly with respect to maintaining high standards in areas such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) or agricultural biotechnology. Without this trade agreement, North America is more vulnerable to countries that employ trade restrictive policies that negatively impact the movement of food from areas of surplus to deficit. CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC is key to maintaining a competitive global advantage that reduces reliance on distant supply chains and encourages investment across the region. Preserving the full trilateral framework of the agreement safeguards these advantages, as the integrated nature of North American agriculture depends on predictable and cooperative trading relationships among all three countries.

CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC’s efficiencies reduce costs, and the provisions create stability and predictability – all vital elements that farmers and businesses need to plan for the future. As CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC unfolds, it is important to ensure that it does not create uncertainty and instability to markets that could have negative ripple effects across the entire North American economy. Trade cooperation between the United States, Mexico, and Canada affords massive economic benefits, highlighting the need to uphold and strengthen CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC. Trade integration between all three countries has allowed agricultural exports to soar, tripling the value of agrifood trade between the three countries between 2005 and 2023, totaling $285 billion. This growth was facilitated by removal of most tariff and quota barriers within North America, as well as reduced barriers through regulatory cooperation. Preserving these commitments limits disruptions in supply, maintains affordability for consumers, and promotes competition.

In addition to the economic benefits provided by CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC, the elimination of regulatory barriers has benefited parties in all three countries. Specifically, the agreement’s SPS provisions increased regulatory transparency and ensured science-based treatment of agricultural commodities and products to the benefit of animal and plant health, which have worked incredibly well for exporters. Additionally, the technical barriers to trade (TBT) provisions are instrumental in removing obstacles inhibiting trade and strengthening regulatory cooperation. All of these measures contribute to reduced costs for consumers and facilitating strong demand for farming communities across North America.

CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC creates an environment that can mitigate trade challenges instead of spurring escalation. This is especially important as the entire food and agriculture supply chain is grappling with high input costs, low commodity prices, natural disasters, and global unrest. Price increases are difficult in any time period, but especially now. CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC’s provisions provide mechanisms to handle unfair trade actions and avoid inflicting harm on our rural communities.

Our organizations are deeply reliant on trade, and our closest neighbors are the strongest

trading partners for North American agriculture and its continued success. We stand ready to provide the expertise needed to uphold and extend CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC to the benefit of the entire North American food and agriculture sector.

Sincerely,

Agil-e Asesoría Estratégica	Agricultural Coalition for USMCA	Agricultural Retailers Association	American Coalition for Ethanol
American Farm Bureau Federation	American Feed Industry Association	American Malting Barley Association	American Soybean Association
Animal Health Institute	Asociación Agricola de Productores de Platano del Soconusco	Asociación Agricola del Rio Culiacán	Asociación Agricola del Rio Sinaloa Poniente
Asociación Agricola Local de Matamoros	Asociación Agricola Local de Productores de Uva de Mesa	Asociación de Agricultores del Rio Fuerte Sur	Asociación de Organismos de Agricultores del Norte del Estado de Sonora
Asociación de Organismos de Agricultores del Sur de Sonora	Asociación de Productores de Frutas y Hortalizas de Caborca	Asociación de Productores de Hortalizas del Yaqui y Mayo	Asociación Mexicana de Horticultura Protegida
Asociación Mexicana de Industriales de Galletas y Pastas	Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Alimentos	Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Carne AMEG	Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Leche
Asociación Mexicana de Semilleros	Asociación Nacional de Comercializadores y Productores de Fertilizantes	Asociación Nacional de Establecimientos TIF	Asociación Nacional de Exportadores de Berries de México
Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Alimentos para Consumo Animal	Asociación Nacional de Procesadores de Cítricos	Border Trade Alliance	Brewers Association
Cámara Nacional de Industriales de la Leche	Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Conservas Alimenticias	Cámara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera	Cámara Nacional de las Industrias Azucarera y Alcoholera
Cámara Nacional de las Industrias Pesquera y Acuícola	Cámara Nacional del Maiz Industrializado	Canada Grains Council	Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance	Canadian Canola Growers Association	Canadian Cattle Association	Canadian Meat Council
Canadian National Millers Association	Canadian Pork Council	Canadian Produce Marketing Association	Canadian Sugar Institute
Canola Council of Canada	CEA Alliance	Cereals Canada	Coalition for North American Trade
Comisión de la Industria de Vinos y Licores	Comisión para la Investigación y Defensa de las Hortalizas	Confederación de Asociaciones Agrícolas del Estado de Sinaloa	Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas
Confederación Nacional de Propietarios Rurales	Consejo Agricola de Baja California	Consejo Agricola del Suelo de Conservación de la Ciudad de Mexico y Proyectos Sostenibles en Agua	Consejo Agroalimentario de Hidalgo
Consejo Agroalimentario de Yucatán	Consejo Agropecuario de la Comarca Lagunera	Consejo Agropecuario Poblano	Consejo de Desarrollo Agropecuario y Agroindustrial de Jalisco
Consejo de Productores y Exportadores de Limon Persa	Consejo Empresarial Agropecuario de Tlaxcala	Consejo Estatal Agroalimentario de Guanajuato	Consejo Estatal Agropecuario de Aguascalientes
Consejo Estatal Agropecuario de Chihuahua	Consejo Estatal Agropecuario de Colima	Consejo Estatal Agropecuario de Nuevo Leon	Consejo Estatal Agropecuario de Tamaulipas
Consejo Mexicano de la Carne	Consejo Mexicano del Arroz	Consejo Mexicano Vitivinícola	Consejo Nacional Agropecuario
Consejo Nacional de Fabricantes de Alimentos Balanceados y de la Nutrición Animal	Consejo Regulador del Tequila	Coordinadora Nacional de las Fundaciones Produce	Corn Refiners Association
CropLife America	CropLife Canada	Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.	Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative
Empacadoras de Mango de Exportación	Farm Credit Council	Farmers for Free Trade	Federación Mexicana de Lechería
Federación Mexicana de Lechería	Federación Mexicana de Palma de Aceite	Fertilizer Canada	Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada
Fresh Produce Association of the Americas	Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada	Global Cold Chain Alliance	Grain Growers of Canada
Growth Energy	Industria Farmacéutica Veterinaria de la Cámara Nacional de la Industria farmacéutica	International Fresh Produce Association	Meat Institute
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture	National Association of Wheat Growers	National Barley Growers Association	National Cattle Feeders' Association
National Cattlemen's Beef Association	National Corn Growers Association	National Cotton Council	National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
National Foreign Trade Council	National Fisheries Institute	National Grain and Feed Association	National Milk Producers Federation
National Oilseed Processors Association	National Pork Producers Council	National Potato Council	National Sorghum Producers
National Sunflower Association	National Turkey Federation	North American Export Grain Association	North American Millers' Association
Northwest Horticultural Council	Pet Food Institute	Productores Hortofrutícolas del Norte	Protección de Cultivos, Ciencia y Tecnología A.C.
Pulse Canada	Renewable Fuels Association	Seeds Canada	Sociedad Cooperativa Agropecuaria de la Comarca Lagunera
Soy Canada	Spirits Canada	Sweetener Users Association	U.S. Apple Association
U.S. Canola Association	U.S. Cattlemen's Association	U.S. Chamber of Commerce	U.S. Dairy Export Council
U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council	U.S. Peanut Federation	Unificación Nacional Porcicola	Union Agricola Regional de Fruticultores del Estado de Chihuahua
Union Agricola Regional de la Sierra del Estado de Tabasco Productores de Platano	Union Agricola Regional de Productores de Maiz Amarillo asi como Otros Granos y Semillas del Estado de Chihuahua	Union Agricola Regional del Norte de Tamaulipas	Union Agricola Regional del Sur del Estado de Tamaulipas
Union de Asociaciones Avícolas de Jalisco	Union Ganadera Regional de Chihuahua	Union Ganadera Regional de Porcicultores de Sonora	Union Mexicana de Fabricantes y Formuladores de Agroquímicos
Union Nacional de Avicultores	Union Regional de Porcicultores de Jalisco	United States Council for International Business	USA Poultry & Egg Export Council
USA Pulses	USA Pulses Trade Association	USA Rice	Western Grain Elevator Association
Wine Institute