This week President Trump addressed the 99th annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation in Nashville, Tennessee. The President addressed a number of topics of interest to the agricultural community, including regulations, crop insurance, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
These comments will likely be scrutinized for any hint about Trump's plans for NAFTA, a topic of great concern to the agricultural industry in the Mississippi River Basin and around the country. Members of the Trump Administration, including Secretary of Agriculture Perdue, have stated that the United States should renegotiate the pact rather than leave it altogether. However, the President has repeatedly threatened to leave the agreement if the United States cannot convince Mexico and Canada to come to a new agreement.
In the event that NAFTA is ultimately scrapped, farmers that previously enjoyed the ability to ship goods to Mexico and Canada duty-free could face significant tariffs.
