NPPC details benefits of NAFTA

by | May 25, 2017 | 5 Ag Stories, News

New documents released by the National Pork Producers Council Thursday show the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement to the U.S., Canada and Mexico. NPPC released a white paper that focuses primarily on trade with Mexico and makes the case for not abandoning the 23-year-old pact.

The paper also argues for not disrupting trade in sectors for which the agreement has worked well, including U.S. pork. Mexico is the number two export market for U.S. pork, and Canada is number four. For all U.S. goods and services, Canada and Mexico are the top two destinations, accounting for more than one-third of total U.S. exports, adding $80 billion to the U.S. economy and supporting more than 14 million American jobs. For U.S. agriculture, Canada and Mexico are the second and third largest foreign markets.

They imported more than $38 billion of U.S. products in 2016, or 28 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports. Those exports generated more than $48 billion in additional business activity throughout the economy and supported nearly 287,000 jobs.