Soy leaders attend USMCA signing in support of trade deal

Washington -- Members of the American Soybean Association (ASA) board of directors from five states attended the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement signing ceremony at the White House Jan. 29 in celebration of the new treaty. ASA represents soy farmers from 30 total soy-producing states and is pleased to see the agreement signed into law.

“This final step by President Trump ensures soybean growers will maintain access to two of their top markets, and it will also support the poultry and dairy industries that are important to soy,” said Bill Gordon, ASA president and grower from Worthington, MN. 

Gordon continued, “We reiterate our hearty thanks to both houses of Congress, the President, and their staff who worked together to make this important deal happen.”

Mexico has already acted on USMCA, and Canada’s Parliament is expected to follow the United States and approve the deal in the coming weeks. The deal is expected to take effect later this year after additional procedural steps.

Mexico is the #2 market for whole beans, meal and oil, and Canada is the #4 buyer of meal and #7 buyer of oil for U.S. soybean farmers, making the trade agreement essential to sustaining the growth realized in those two countries under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Under NAFTA, U.S. soybean sales to Mexico quadrupled and to Canada doubled.