If the new bill passes through Congress, it would update the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The U.S. made an estimated $617 million from dairy products exported to Canada in 2017.
New York farmers were able to sit down with lawmakers and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in Geneva Wednesday. Congressman Tom Reed accompanied Perdue at the roundtable discussion.
One thing that was said over and over was that the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico will be life-changing for dairy farmers.
Ed Merry of the Steuben County Farm Bureau said that in 2014, they had great prices going forward until now.
“They’ve been mediocre,” Merry said. “It’s been very difficult to survive.”
Central New York company Byrne Dairy represents a lot of family-owned farms that are impacted by North American trade.
The Trump Administration says the updated agreement would help dairy farmers move product across Mexico and Canadian borders, improve digital trade, and expand the dairy market.
“We depend on exports and we depend on exports for real profitability,” Perdue said. “That’s the real profit margin. Congressman Reed understands. That’s why the USMC agreement is so important particularly to the dairy farmers here in the northeast but all of our agriculture.”
Reed said he is convinced that if the U.S., Mexico, Canada trade agreement was voted on by Congress today, it would pass.
However, the house is still waiting on house speaker Nancy Pelosi to vote.