A reason for the challenges is how President Biden handles trade.
His policies aren’t removing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers for U.S. ag, leaving the industry in a disadvantageous position, the Republican senators said.
“While the Biden administration continually refuses to pursue traditional free trade agreements, China, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and others continue to ink trade pacts that diminish American export opportunities and global economic influence,” the senators said.
Secretary Vilsack and his USMCA counterparts are expected to meet this month.
During the Commodity Classic, Vilsack outlined his talking points when meeting with Canada’s and Mexico’s federal ag ministers.
He plans to “continue to raise the concern we have in Mexico and their approach to biotechnology in terms of corn, and for me to also raise the need for Canada to continue to look for ways in which their dairy market can be more open to us,” he told attendees, Reuters reported.
The latest data from the USDA as of January shows the U.S. is already in an ag trade deficit position of more than $2.5 billion.