National NAFTA Grass Roots Day

Tuesday I received a call from Kevin Paap the President of the Minnesota Farm Bureau. Kevin told me the Minnesota Farm Bureau had joined with 14 other National Agriculture Groups to have a National North American Free Trade (NAFTA) Grass Roots Day. All these Agriculture groups are asking their members to call President Trump and tell personal stories of how exports and trade affect their farming operation. The number to call is 202-456-1111. That is the White House constituent comment line where you can leave your message.

All these Agriculture Groups are concerned about all the talk about the United States pulling out of NAFTA. NAFTA is very important to agriculture in Minnesota. Just remember 24, 24 and 24. Around 24 percent of Agriculture exports from Minnesota go to Canada, another 24 percent goes to Mexico. While the NAFTA agreement is about 24 years old it is critical to Minnesota Agriculture.

All these Agriculture Groups argue that instead of pulling out of NAFTA new chapters should be negotiated and added to the current agreement. All the Agriculture Groups recognize that things have changed in 24 years and NAFTA could be improved. That is why there is a procedure to add new chapters to NAFTA. Please take a minute and make the call.