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Commerce Secretary says NAFTA goal is ‘do no harm’
NCGA board chair Chip Bowling was part of a NAFTA discussion in Washington on Wednesday. (photo courtesy C-SPAN)
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says when North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations get underway later this year, the first guiding principle will be to “do no harm”.
“There were some things that were achieved under NAFTA and other trade agreements,” Ross says. “So the first rule is ‘do no harm’.”
Ross says the goal to complete the renegotiation of the NAFTA is by early January, well before Mexico’s general elections and U.S. congressional elections in 2018.
Chip Bowling, board chair of the National Corn Growers Association, says corn growers can’t afford any major disruptions on trade.
“Trade has been somewhat flat for us over the last several years,” Bowling says. “So any disruption in trade has a big impact on our farm costs, on our financial picture—and we’ve got to make sure we don’t disrupt that in any way.”
Ross and Bowling were part of a NAFTA discussion Wednesday hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.
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