The Iowa Pork Producers Association supports actions taken today by the U.S. House when it passed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“Exports are important to Iowa and U.S. pig farmers, and that’s why we applaud the U.S. House for taking action to ratify the USMCA agreement negotiated by the Trump Administration. We especially want to thank all four of Iowa’s U.S. House of Representative members for voting for the agreement,” said Trent Thiele, Elma. Thiele is president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

“Our industry has worked many years in developing valuable international trading relationships that have fueled Iowa’s rural economy and helped offset the U.S. trade deficit. It is important to me and Iowa’s other pig farmers that we return to those good working relationships we have had with Mexico and Canada.”

When combined, the joint Mexico and Canada market has consistently purchased 40 percent of U.S. pork exports when there was a trade agreement between the three countries.

“This agreement will protect Iowa’s pork producers from being caught in the middle, as we were in 2018 and through the first half of 2019. Economic estimates have said we lost $12 per pig during that time period because of tariff issues,” Thiele said.

“We now encourage the U.S. Senate to work quickly to also approve the USMCA,” Thiele said.