Agricultural exporters push for trade deal extension
Farmtario | 14 January 2026
Agricultural exporters push for trade deal extension
By Sean Pratt
Canada is in the process of reviewing its most vital free trade agreement.
WHY IT MATTERS: The U.S. is Canada’s top agri-food customer.
The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is under review by all three countries, and a decision will soon be made whether it will be extended another 16 years or allowed to sunset in 2036.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Canada’s agriculture sector.
“The United States is the biggest, richest market on the planet and it is right next door to us,” said Michael Harvey, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA).
“So, it is absolutely essential to everything we do in Canada when it comes to agri-food exports.”
CUSMA entered into force in 2020 and the first joint review, which is due by July 1, 2026, will be a pivotal test of North America’s ability to keep borders open and supply chains competitive, he said.
There have been times in the last year that CAFTA has been left with the impression that the U.S. is moving away from free trade, but that sentiment appears to be fading.
“We’re a lot more confident now than we were a year ago that that is not the case,” said Harvey.
Part of his confidence stems from recent remarks by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, who told the House ways and means and Senate finance committees that there is “broad support” for CUSMA.
That is the conclusion he came to after reviewing 1,514 comments about the agreement submitted by a wide range of stakeholders and after hearing the testimony of nearly 150 witnesses attending a three-day public hearing.
“But at the same time, it is clear that we have not achieved all our goals with respect to strengthening U.S. manufacturing capacity and creating good jobs, and nearly all stakeholders advocate improvements,” he said in his opening statement to the committees.
Greer rattled off a long list of shortcomings of the pact, including concerns about the lack of dairy market access in Canada and Canada’s exports of certain dairy products.
“So, I don’t think we can say that (CUSMA) is an unqualified success,” he said.
Greer said a “rubberstamp” of the agreement is not in the national interest of the U.S. Instead, the USTR will be “negotiating firmly” with Mexico and Canada to address the deal’s shortcomings.
Some of the feedback Greer received was provided by 124 national and state farm organizations, which sent a letter to the USTR calling for a 16-year renewal of USMCA, noting that there has been a tripling of the value of agri-food trade with the three countries between 2005 and 2023.
“Without the economic might that this trilateral agreement affords, farmer incomes would be harmed, as the industry would be saddled with additional and burdensome costs related to transportation and compliance measures,” stated the letter.
“Without the certainty guaranteed by (CUSMA), agribusinesses and family farms would face undependable markets and weakened global competitiveness.”
Harvey said consultations are underway in Canada as well. CAFTA has appeared before Senate and House of Commons committees, made submissions to the government and met regularly with trade negotiators.
CAFTA is advocating for a 16-year extension of the agreement because its rules provide vital certainty for trade and investment decisions for its members, who account for 90 per cent of Canada’s agricultural trade.
CUSMA provides tariff-free access to the U.S. and Mexican markets for the vast majority of products sold by CAFTA’s members.
The same can’t be said for other industries, such as steel, aluminum and automobiles, where the United States has been violating the terms of CUSMA by placing punitive tariffs on those products.
CAFTA has lingering tariff and non-tariff barriers it would like to address in the CUSMA review, but it would also be happy if the deal was simply extended as is.
Harvey said countries can renege on free trade agreements, as evidenced by what is happening with steel, aluminum and cars, but in general these pacts help remove risk from what has become a volatile global trade environment.
As well, he noted that the agri-food sector does not have the same “national security lens” on it that the U.S. is placing on other sectors of the Canadian economy.
