[T]he new trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada appears to be an improvement on its predecessor, NAFTA, Vermont leaders said Monday. But it will be weeks before policymakers know the true economic impact of the deal between the U.S. and two of Vermont’s largest trading partners.
U.S. negotiators reached a deal late Sunday on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. It updates the 24-year-old NAFTA, or North American Free Trade Agreement, in areas such as manufacturing, intellectual property rights, and labor, the White House said in a prepared statement.
President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that the deal “greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, reduces Trade Barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great Nations together in competition with the rest of the world.”
David Carle, a spokesperson for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said it’s too early to offer a meaningful analysis of the deal; the full text is not yet available, and it still needs to be approved by Congress.
But “on dairy, which has been the centerpiece, it seems that the deal is likely to have a small positive impact on our dairy trade with Canada, and also internationally,” Carle said.
The proposed Canadian agreement contains a possible resolution to a dispute over “Class 7” milk pricing, said Anson Tebbetts, Vermont’s secretary of agriculture. Canada’s 18-month-old Class 7 milk pricing policy had lowered milk ingredient prices and cut into U.S. exports of some milk ingredients.
“Today’s proposal may mean that the U.S. could sell more dairy to Canada and that’s encouraging, because we need all the positive news we can possibly get out of dairy right now,” Tebbetts said.
Milk prices nationally have been in a four-year slump, partly caused by overproduction. Tebbetts said that if the trade deal is passed by Congress, he expects to see an increase in the market for U.S. milk products.
“That will be beneficial to Vermont farmers in the long run,” he said.
Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement he’s optimistic that the updated agreement will have “a positive impact” and called news of Sunday’s deal “an encouraging step forward.”
The state’s commerce secretary, Michael Schirling, also said he’s optimistic that modernizing the agreement will have a positive effect. He noted that Vermont’s trade with Canada goes both ways; the state relies on some imports to fuel important businesses such as wood for construction and even maple syrup for maple products.
“We’re one of the top (maple syrup) producers in the country, but we can’t produce enough,” Schirling said. “it’s about ensuring our companies can get what they need as well.”
