Speakers at Saturday’s Iowa Ag Summit suggested there are opportunities and risks ahead as the Trump Administration renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement. Officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico will convene in Washington on August 16th to begin the first round of discussions. U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue did not mention NAFTA directly during his keynote address at the Iowa Ag Summit, but he talked about it with reporters afterwards. “First of all, the principle is: ‘Do no harm.’ Overall, agriculture’s done very well under NAFTA and we hope to continue that,” Perdue said. “There are a few things that need to be addressed, certainly, with Canada and with Mexico.”

But Perdue says “not all sectors have benefited equally” under the trade deal. “Our producers in south Florida, vegetables and fruits, have not done as well. Our pork, our dairy, our grain farmers have done relatively well under NAFTA,” Perdue says. “We want to make sure that we have a good, fair deal that’s enforced and we can live with maybe for another 20 years.”

Three Canadian officials spoke at the summit, too, and each talked about NAFTA. Fred Gorrell, the assistant deputy minister for agriculture in Canada, says Canada, the United States and Mexico are the “envy of the world” when it comes to the long-standing trade relationship.  “Not only do we trade with each other, we build things together,” Gorrell said.

Jean-Claude Poissant, Canada’s parliamentary secretary for agriculture, says trade drives the economies “on both sides of the border.”  “The government of Canada is committed to working with you to grow the Canada-U.S. relationship,” Poussant said. “…The main point I want to make is that the Canada-U.S. relationship is strong, stable and beneficial to both our great nations.”

The Iowa Ag Summit also covered issues like prospects for the next Farm Bill, but trade policy was at the forefront of the day-long event. Governor Kim Reynolds says “modernizing” NAFTA presents an opportunity for the state. “Our goal is to ensure Iowa’s high quality products continue to move across borders and around the world,” Reynolds said. Senator Chuck Grassley says re-negotiating the trade pact will be “more difficult” with Canada than with Mexico. “There are some areas, like Canadian dairy policy, that are going to be quite a challenge if we try to make changes in that area, but I think it’s legitimate that we try to do that,” Grassley said.

Randy Spronk, a past president of the National Pork Producers Council, notes Canada and Mexico bought more than two BILLION dollars worth of U.S. pork last year. “As a matter of fact, you add Mexico and Canada together — Mexico is number two and Canada is number four — that’s one third of our exports,” Spronk said. Senator Joni Ernst says in addition to NAFTA, the Trump Administration must establish new “bilateral” agreements now that the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership has been scrapped. “If we don’t pursue these trade agreements, I guarantee you that China will,” Ernst said. And that makes international trade a national security issue, according to Ernst.

Bruce Rastetter, the agribusinessman from Arlington who hosted and organized Saturday’s event, says open markets are critical to both farmers AND Iowa manufacturers. “One of the negative outcomes of NAFTA has been the loss of jobs in rural Iowa,” Rastetter told reporters. Rastetter announced the next Iowa Ag Summit will be on March 3rd of 2018 — and he plans to make it an annual event. “There’ll be an emphasis on trade, manufacturing and I think also in light of the need for improved water quality in agriculture, we’ll have an emphasis on that,” Rastetter said.

Panelists at THIS weekend’s ag summit discussed water quality, too. One panelist suggested federal crop subsidies should be limited to farmers who engage in conservation practices. Others discussed how to provide “accountability” and measure progress.

(Radio Iowa)