June 11, 2019 the Honorable Nancy Pelosi the Honorable Kevin
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A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies June 11, 2019 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Speaker Minority Leader U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable Chuck Schumer Majority Leader Minority Leader U.S. Senate U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer, We, the undersigned organizations representing all segments of the U.S. food and agriculture value chain at the national, state and local levels, write to urge your strong support for swift ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA will benefit the U.S. agriculture and food industry while providing consumers a more abundant supply of high- quality, safe food at affordable prices. Over the last 25 years, U.S. food and agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have more than quadrupled under NAFTA – growing from $9 billion in 1993 to nearly $40 billion in 2018. NAFTA has significantly helped create a reliable, high-quality supply of food products for U.S. consumers, while supporting more than 900,000 American jobs in food and agriculture and related sectors of the economy. USMCA builds on the success of the NAFTA agreement, and will ultimately lead to freer markets and fairer trade. This modernized trade agreement makes improvements to further enhance U.S. food and agricultural exports to our neighbors and would deliver an additional $2.2 billion in U.S. economic activity. The International Trade Commission’s new report, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and Specific Industry Sectors, confirms that the USMCA will improve market access for U.S. farmers, ranchers and food producers. The report states that USMCA would have “a positive impact on the U.S. agriculture sector.” Furthermore, it "would likely have a positive impact on all broad industry sectors within the U.S. economy", raising U.S. GDP by $68.2 billion. USMCA further strengthens U.S. food and agricultural trade by enhancing standards for biotechnology; reducing the use of trade distorting policies; establishing modern, science-based sanitary and phytosanitary standards; reinforcing disciplines for science-based SPS measures; improving grading standards and services; facilitating the marketing of food and agricultural products; and strengthening safeguards for commonly used food names. These advances help provide certainty in the North American market, which is essential to the success of American agriculture and retailers. A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies Given the significance of USMCA for the U.S. agriculture and food industry, we strongly urge that it be considered quickly, and we respectfully ask you to vote to ratify the agreement. Sincerely, 21st Century Co-op Al-CORN Clean Fuel Abbott All American Coop Adams County Farm Bureau, Illinois All Star Purchasing Advance Trading Inc. Allegan County Farm Bureau, Michigan Advanced Process Technology Alliance Ag and Grain Ag Partners - MN Alliance Grain Co. Ag Partners, LLC - IA Alpena Coop Service Ag Power Inc. Alter Logistics Company Ag Processing, Inc Alter River Terminals Ag Service Incorporated Amcot Ag Supply Co. American AgCredit Ag Valley Cooperative American Bakers Association Ag View FS, Inc. American Beverage Association AgCredit, ACA American Cotton Producers of the National Ag-Land FS, Inc. Cotton Council AgMark, LLC American Cotton Shippers Association AgMotion American Dairy Products Institute Agniel Commodities LLC American Farm Bureau Federation Agrex, Inc. American Feed Industry Association Agri Beef Company American Frozen Food Institute Agri Networks Management LLC American Milling Agribank, FCB American Seed Trade Association Agribusiness Association of Iowa American Soybean Association Agribusiness Council of Indiana American Sugar Alliance Agricenter International Ampco Agricor, Inc. Anderson County Farm Bureau, Kansas Agricultural Council of Arkansas Animal Health Institute Agricultural Council of California Ann Arbor Railroad Agricultural Retailers Association Antrim County Farm Bureau, Michigan Agri-Mark/ Cabot Cheese APT AGRI-SEARCH Archer Daniels Midland Company AGrowStar Arenac County Farm Bureau, Michigan Agtegra Cooperative Arizona Cotton Ginners Association AgVantage FS Arizona Cotton Growers Association Alabama Cotton Commission Arizona Farm Bureau Alabama Farmers Cooperative, Inc. Arizona Grain, Inc. Alabama Farmers Federation Arizona Pork Council Alabama Southern Railroad Arkansas Farm Bureau Alabama Warrior Railroad Arkansas Southern Railroad Alaska Farm Bureau Arkansas Valley Farmers Association Albany County Farm Bureau, New York Assaria Ag Inc. A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies Associated Milk Producers, Inc Caledonia Farmers Elevator Atchison County Farm Bureau, Kansas Calhoun County Farm Bureau, Michigan Attebury Grain, LLC California Apple Commission Aurora Cooperative California Association of Winegrape Aurora Organic Dairy Growers Austin Western Railroad California Bean Shippers Association Autauga Northern Railroad California Blueberry Commission Autauga Quality Cotton Association California Canning Peach Association Baker Cheese Factory, Inc. California Cherry Export Association Barber County Farm Bureau, Kansas California Cherry Export Council Barrett, Easterday, Cunninghamp, & California Cotton Ginners and Growers Eselgroth, LLP Association Barry County Farm Bureau, Michigan California Dairies, Inc Bartlett Grain California Date Commission Barton County Farm Bureau, Kansas California Dried Plum Board Baton Rouge Southern Railroad California Farm Bureau Federation Bay County Farm Bureau, Michigan California Fig Advisory Board Bayer California Grain and Feed Association Beachner Grain, Inc California Pear Growers Association Belgioioso Cheese Inc. California Pork Producers Association Benchmarks Inc. California Rice Commission Benzie-Manistee County Farm Bureau, California Seed Association Michigan California Strawberry Commission Berrien County Farm Bureau, Michigan California Walnut Commission Berryman and Associates California Warehouse Association Bimbo Bakeries California Wheat Association Birmingham Southern Railroad Camp Douglas Farmers Coop Blackland Cotton and Grain Producers, Inc. Cargill Incorporated Blue Bell Creameries Carolinas Cotton Growers Cooperative Blue Diamond Almonds Carroll County Farm Bureau, Illinois Blue Ridge Southern Railroad Carroll Service Company Bluegrass Dairy and Food Cass County Farm Bureau, Michigan BNSF Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau, Illinois Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Cayuga Milk Ingredients Bogalusa Bayou Railroad Centennial Grain LLC Boswell Chase Grain, Inc. Center for Dairy Excellence Bourdeau Bros Inc. Centerra Co-op Boyce Valley Southern Railroad Central Commodities Ltd Branch County Farm Bureau, Michigan Central Farm Service Cooperative Brewster Cheese Company Central Life Sciences Brown County Farm Bureau, Kansas Central Missouri AGRIService LLC Buchheit Agriculture Central Prairie Co-op Bunge Central Valley Ag Butler County Farm Bureau, Kansas Central Valley Meat Company Byrum Hardwares Ceres Solutions Cooperative, Inc. Calcot Ltd. CereServ Inc. A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies A Letter from U.S. Food and Agriculture Associations and Companies CGB Cooperative Network Chandler Co-op Cooperative Oil Association Charlevoix County Farm Bureau, Michigan Cooperative Producers Inc Chautauqua County Farm Bureau, New Copper Country County Farm Bureau, York Michigan Cheboygan County Farm Bureau, Michigan Corn Refiners Association Chenango County Farm Bureau, New York Cort Consulting Group, Inc. Cherokee County Farm Bureau, Kansas Corteva Agriscience Chippewa County Farm Bureau, Michigan Cotton Growers Cooperative Chr. Hansen, Inc. Cotton Growers Warehouse Association CHS – OK – Okarche, OK Cotton Producers of Missouri CHS, Inc Cottonseed and Feed Association Cicero Central Railroad Country Partners Cooperative Clare County Farm Bureau, Michigan Country Visions Cooperative Clark County Farm Bureau, Illinois Countryside Cooperative Clay County Co-op Countryside Feed, LLC Clay County Farm Bureau, Kansas Cowley County Farm Bureau, Kansas Clinton County Farm Bureau, Illinois CropTrak Clinton County Farm Bureau, Michigan Crossroads Cooperative Clin-Wash Ag Services Crown Appraisals, Inc. Cloud County Farm Bureau, Kansas Crystal Creamery Co-Alliance CSC Gold CoBank D&F Grain Co. Coles County Farm Bureau, Illinois D.E. Bondurant Grain Co. Collateral Certification Services LLC Dairy Farmers of America Colorado Corn Growers Association Dairy Foods Magazine Colorado Dairy Farmers Dairy Products Institute of Texas Colorado Farm Bureau Dakota Midland Grain Colorado Livestock Association DariFill Colorado Pork Producers Council Darigold Columbia County Farm Bureau, New York Dean Foods Company Columbia Grain Intl. LLC Decatur and Eastern Railroad Comanche County Farm Bureau, Kansas Definox Inc. CoMark Equity Alliance Degesch America, Inc. CoMark Equity Alliance – Enid, OK & DeKalb County Farm Bureau, Illinois Cheney, KS Delaware Farm Bureau Commodity Solutions Inc. Delphos Cooperative Assn. Compeer Financial Delta Council Conagra Brands,