Representatives from Canada’s agricultural industries and a senior provincial ag official were in Washington this week as part of an effort to preserve a North American trade pact and smooth the path to renewal.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has slapped new 25% duties on Canada, reduced to 10% for potash and energy products. Initially, products entering the country under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a free trade deal penned in 2020, were subject to the new tariffs. But the president later exempted products covered by the pact.
“The president's decisions have caused a lot of uncertainty, and in that context, we're trying to get back to certainty,” Michael Harvey, the executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance told Agri-Pulse.
Harvey led a group of representatives from the Canadian agriculture sector on a fly-in to Washington this week – including those from the pork, cattle, canola, sugar and grain sectors, among others. In meetings with more than 50 lawmakers, congressional offices and Agriculture Department officials, the group emphasized the USMCA’s benefit for U.S. and Canadian ag producers and consumers.
The USMCA comes up for review in 2026, when the three governments decide whether to adjust or renew the agreement for another 16 years. If the parties can’t reach an agreement, they are supposed to meet every year until the deal’s expiry in 2036 to try and find a path to renewal.
Despite negotiating the deal during his first term, Trump has been scathing of the pact since taking office, particularly over parts of the deal that allow Canada to provide U.S. energy.
“The USMCA framework gives us stability that is really important to protect,” Harvey said.
CAFTA’s visit overlapped with a trip by the minister of agriculture for the Canadian province of Alberta, RJ Sigurdson, who was on his own crusade to smooth the path for renewal in 2026.
“As somebody that works in the legislative space and the regulation space, I know how important it is to have those conversations ahead of time,” Sigurdson told Agri-Pulse at the Canadian embassy on Wednesday.
Around 99% of the deal is working perfectly, Sigurdson argued, but if U.S. officials see the need for corrections, he said he would bring those concerns back to the federal government.
Sigurdson said he had met with USDA officials during his four-day visit but noted that although he was hoping to meet with Secretary Brooke Rollins, he “didn’t get the chance.”
One area that is sure to pose a sticking point in negotiations is Canada’s dairy import quotas. The U.S. dairy industry has never filled its allotted quotas – which allow a certain volume of dairy products to enter Canada tariff-free – because of the way the quotas are allocated, the industry says.
“Dairy was brought up by several Congress people as an issue that they're interested in,” Harvey said.
Sigurdson also noted that the next Canadian government would need to work out how to address the issue as part of the review process. Canada is set to hold federal elections on April 28.
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But Harvey and Sigurdson said that overall, U.S. lawmakers and officials shared their interest in renewing the agreement.
“Every conversation we've had so far is that this is working, and working well, on the ag side,” Sigurdson said.
Farm inputs like ag machinery cross the border multiple times before they become the finished product, as facilities in both Canada and the U.S. handle different parts of the manufacturing and assembly process. Similarly, Sigurdson pointed out that cattle from Alberta are exported to herds as far as Utah.
“Some cattle travel multiple times across the border and their lifespan,” he said. Alberta alone exports more than C$9 billion worth of ag products to the U.S., or around $6.7 billion. Accordingly, the U.S. tariffs, he said, had left Canadians frustrated and confused.
Harvey also said that unanimously lawmakers and officials supported the preservation of the USMCA. He also said he had been surprised at the skepticism expressed by Republican lawmakers over the new tariffs on Canadian products, given many Republicans have not publicly challenged the president’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada.
“The president obviously has support of Republican congressmen, but they're not expressing that they're totally on board with the strategy right now,” Harvey said.
Whether or not the deal is preserved as it stands, or whether all sides can agree to specific reforms, depends on more than just the agricultural sector. The U.S. also has grievances around a digital tax.
But based on the conversations Sigurdson had this week, he says he’s optimistic both sides can reach a deal in 2026.
“It's been extremely positive,” Sigurdson said. “I'm not saying that there isn't probably an area or two that we need to maybe have a brief discussion about and make slight adjustments.”
But he added that, “whatever the next federal government is, my hope is that they would be able to and very willing to sit down the table and work through those small issues.”For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
