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Minnesota Pork CEO says Trump has leverage with USMCA

A pork industry leader says President Trump has the leverage to accomplish his goal of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Minnesota Pork CEO David Preisler tells Brownfield now that the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) has been signed by the leaders of all three countries, those governments must ratify the deal.

“The President has announced that he may look at withdrawing from NAFTA to kind of use as a lever to get (USMCA) moving.  To withdraw from NAFTA and cancel the whole thing, you have to give six months notice.”

Preisler is confident the legislative bodies of Mexico and Canada will sign USMCA, but he says the next U.S. Congress might need that six-month deadline to ratify the agreement.

Preisler also doubts President Trump will remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico before USMCA becomes law.

“Unfortunately, like we see with many issues in Congress, until there’s a tremendous amount of (pressure) or a deadline that’s been established, oftentimes things don’t get done.  So I think (the tariffs) are purely just political leverage.”

With USMCA signed, Congress can take up the legislation at any time.