Arizona companies that depend on trade policies to provide stability and help open international markets are faced with uncertainty. While the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is still in use, it will potentially be replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
However, updating NAFTA with the USMCA isn’t a sure thing. Federal legislatures in each of the three signatory countries of the USMCA must still pass implementing legislation.
A policy review prepared by the North American Research Partnership and Crossborder Group provides Arizona businesses and decision-makers with an overview of the new USMCA, describes some of the key changes it would make in comparison to NAFTA, and outlines the benefits to Arizona’s economy and communities.
Tomatoes
The report provides the following warning: "Political forces in the Southeast U.S. are already advocating for additional changes to the USMCA, designed to reduce seasonal imports of fresh produce from Mexico that compete directly with growers from Florida and surrounding U.S. states. Specifically, what has become known as the “seasonality” provision, which would have facilitated anti-dumping measures against Mexican tomatoes and other goods under certain circumstances, was not included by negotiators in the text of the USMCA. Including this provision would have complicated the business panorama for the state’s fresh produce distribution industry, which depends on the Nogales-Mariposa Port of Entry and is heavily concentrated in that city. Should such modifications be enacted by the U.S., it is possible that both Canada and Mexico could retaliate, potentially damaging Arizona’s steadily growing agricultural exports."