U.S. Farmers Seek Shelter From Nafta Storm

[question everything]

U.S. agricultural producers are lobbying hard on both sides of the Mexico border to try to ensure that a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement doesn’t turn U.S. farm exports into collateral damage.

Farm groups are making their case in Washington in the hopes that changes to the 23-year-old trade deal don’t hurt what has become the No. 1 market for many U.S. grain, meat and dairy products, often from states that supported President Donald Trump in the election. Agriculture groups have also been flocking to Mexico in recent weeks to strengthen ties with clients and the government amid rising concerns that Mexico could slap retaliatory tariffs on goods if the U.S. pulls out of Nafta.

Mexico Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray raised that threat last month, saying that retaliatory duties could be used as a response to unilateral trade barriers. In 2009, Mexico did just that: following a dispute over allowing Mexican trucks to cross the border, Mexico put import tariffs on up to 99 products, affecting some $2 billion in U.S. farm exports.

(snip)

Nafta has greatly aided the industrialization of Mexico as U.S. firms built factories to supply American consumers. But Mexico also made significant concessions in the pact by opening its markets to more efficient U.S. and Canadian farmers—at the expense of many poor, small Mexican farms.

U.S. farm imports are now critical for Mexico’s food supply, providing all of the country’s corn and sorghum imports, for example. Mexico has about a $60 billion trade surplus with the U.S., mostly due to manufactured products such as cars. In turn, Mexico enjoys a surplus of $7 billion in agricultural products, providing U.S. consumers with winter vegetables such as tomatoes and fruits.

U.S. farmers have expressed concerns about Mr. Trump’s trade agenda and its focus on manufacturing. This month, 11 major farm groups met with Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, a White House office that advises the president... The White House and the U.S. Trade Representative declined to comment on the farmers’ message about Nafta.

More..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-farmers-seek-shelter-from-nafta-storm-1490443200

=======

Hmmm.. let me see, who did they vote for and what was he talking about throughout his campaign?

[Achilleaze]

1. Karma can be a cruel master

which is another way of saying that if you voted for the republican Tax-&-Draft Dodger-in-Chief, the slippery shady Comrade Casino - with his extensive track record of lies, deceit, defaulted contracts, and his beknighted history of demonstrating bad-faith in many a DEAL - you are basically getting who and what you voted for.

I feel for you. I truly do. But I do not excuse you for failing to take note of the obvious.

[nocalflea]

4. What amazes mr is the number of Calif.

central valley farmers who did take note of the obvious and voted for him anyway .Go figure.

[progressoid]

12. Not just California.

Here in IA, they voted for him and now their worried about a drop in corn exports.

[riversedge]

2. Oh my, Trumpy forget his farmers with focus on manufacturing.

[Binkie The Clown]

3. I drove through CA farmland last year and every farm and ranch had Trump signs on the fences

They were stupid enough to vote for Trump, so I can't really feel sorry for them.

[atreides1]

5. You can't blame them

These farmers believed that Trump was going to force Mexico to accept his terms...it never dawned on them that Mexico was an actual country, with its own sovereignty!

The way Trump was talking, who could blame these American farmers for thinking that Mexico was a US possession???


In their attempt to see trump as their "Great White Hope", all they got was an orange faced dope!!!

[hatrack]

9. No, I can blame them, and I do blame them . . .

If it sounds too good to be true, it damned well is too good to be true.

They fell for the Magic Answer Man, the one who will Fix All The Problems, because he's the only one who can.

They voted for a con man, a grifter, a liar and a fraud, because they wanted to be tricked.

And they got their wish - and I blame the for what they're doing to themselves, and what they're doing to everyone else.

Most are legally adults. Maybe they should try acting like adults and THINKING before they vote.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Kinda of follow the Farm Business on a weekly

basis. Nasty trend is emerging,foreign commodity sales contracts are ending and no new orders are coming in. Secondly ugly is the amount of Corn and Beans sitting in Storage on Farm,and the Cash Price at the Elevator is below replacement costs. Thirdly is the stress on Farm Equipment Dealers and Manufacturers,Used and Lease Return equipment prices are in free fall.

And this is all in Trump Country my friends. BTW,if the Rethugs cut the Ag Budget,this will effect these same people who rely on ASCS Financing sources. Next year will be the year of the Farm Bankruptcy.

[Achilleaze]

7. price below cost in Trump country

republicans. go figure.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. This is Serious what is going on.

All this Stored Grain for the most part is,leveraged to high hell and those Loans will have to re rolled before June 1.

This is Trump Country my friend,most Townships voted that I follow,voted 100% Trump. Here is another kicker,Carl Ichan got his EPA rule dealing with Ethenol changed,now the Refiner's do not have to blend their fuel products,it is up to Regional Blenders to do this. This rule change,again this effects Trump Country,Ethenol Refiners are in deep do do. Many of these are Co-ops owned by local Corn Growers and again Bankruptcy is looming on the Horizon.

[Achilleaze]

10. well, republicans did elect a bankruptcy specialist

[mythology]

13. That meme is wrong

Under the Obama administration the economy was growing and adding jobs. Under Trump's plans it will do the opposite exactly as the expected result from a buffoon who needed multiple bankruptcies. He's going to try to turn it back to a Bush era economy.

[Wellstone ruled]

14. Vilsack and his team did more for the US

Farmers since Kennedy and Johnson years. And these same people keep voting against their best interest. No,Trump wants those Reagan Years back. Remember the Farm Foreclosures,many of us do.

[davsand]

16. Farm Aid came into being under Ronnie Raygun.

It was a really bleak time for a lot of farmers.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-farm-aid-concert-is-held-in-champaign-illinois

I am a farm kid, and I was there for Farm Aid One.



Laura

[Wellstone ruled]

17. Used to spend weekends protesting

at Farm Auctions. Seen the pain of their loss. Again,they voted against their best interests.

[davsand]

19. Organizing farmers equals herding cats.

They are all independent souls, and locally they are all in bed with Farm Bureau which is a GOP tool. I have no idea if that is a thing nationwide, but it is as predictable as sunrise around here. There is no scenario where Trump's campaign promises were going to help farmers or rural communities.

Ryan's attack on healthcare isn't going to help them either. Small hospitals are going to blow away, and health insurance for farmers is going to be a thing of the past. Trump's attacks on Mexico are gonna leave Mexico with tariffs on our crop exports--and Mexico is a large consumer of our products. This is some serious bad shit coming, and a lot of people just do not get it.


Laura

[Wellstone ruled]

20. Believe Farm Bureau is Nation wide.

One of the most prolific Campaign money sources for the Rethugs. And yes,ignorance runs deep in Rural America. If the ACA goes down,these Rural Towns will dry up and blow away. Trump wants to pull funding for Rural Development and FMHA. There goes funding for Housing for retired Farmers,which is about all that keeps many small towns alive.

Paul Ryan does not give a crap about anyone other than himself.. And the Rural Area around Janesville Wisconsin will get clobbered big time and they will still vote for him.

[geek tragedy]

11. phuckem nt

[question everything]

15. Trump Administration Signals It Would Seek Mostly Modest Changes to Nafta

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is signaling to Congress it would seek mostly modest changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement in upcoming negotiations with Mexico and Canada despite President Trump having called the trade deal a “disaster” during the campaign.

According to an administration draft proposal being circulated in Congress by the U.S. trade representative’s office, the U.S. would keep some of Nafta’s most controversial provisions, including an arbitration panel that lets investors in the three nations circumvent local courts. The draft, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, talks of seeking “to improve procedures to resolve disputes,” rather than eliminating the panels.

Similarly, the U.S. wouldn’t use the Nafta negotiations to deal with foreign currency policies or to hit numerical targets for bilateral trade deficits, as some trade hawks have been urging. One of the most far-reaching changes would allow a Nafta nation to reinstate tariffs in case of a flood of imports that cause “serious injury or threat of serious injury” to domestic industries.

(snip)

The letter accompanying the Nafta draft said the U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico “demands that this administration take swift action to revise the relationship.”

But the draft doesn’t propose specific measures that would close the deficit. So-called rules of origin—the percentage of a product that must be produced in Nafta countries—could be set in a way that “supports production and jobs in the United States,” the draft said. But the document doesn’t provide any details of how that would be done or what level of domestic content the U.S. would seek.

(snip)

The document appears to be a compromise between the desires of trade hawks to use Nafta renegotiations as a way to set a new trade agenda and moderates who back the U.S. traditional commitment to free trade. The Congress is split along those lines as well

More..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-signals-it-would-seek-mostly-modest-changes-to-nafta-1490842268

[roamer65]

18. The Argentines and Brazilians also grow corn and are ready to sell to Mexico.