Government of Canada Hosts Roundtable on NAFTA with Agricultural Stakeholders

OTTAWA, Sept. 25, 2017 /CNW/ - As Canada, the United States and Mexico continue to work towards modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Government of Canada remains committed to hearing from Canadians from across the country about trade.

The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and the Honourable Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations), today held a roundtable with Canadian agricultural stakeholders, ranging from beef to dairy to grains. Discussions focused on how the sector can maximize the benefits of a modernized NAFTA and look at ways to make North America an even stronger agricultural market.

Quotes

"A strong NAFTA is important for our farmers and our economy. Millions of sector jobs across North America are supported by NAFTA, which has helped grow agricultural trade between our three nations to $85 billion annually. Our Government will continue to work together with Canadian farmers to ensure trade remains an engine of growth and prosperity for our nations."
- The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

"Since NAFTA was signed 23 years ago, North American trade in agriculture and food has quadrupled, and last year North America exported over a quarter of a trillion dollars in agri-food products to the world.  Our success in recent decades is due in large part to the value of our trading relationships, and to the hard work of our agriculture and agri-food industries."
- The Honourable Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)

Quick Facts

• NAFTA has nearly quadrupled agricultural trade in North America over the past 25 years, with trilateral trade reaching nearly USD$1 trillion in 2016.
• Every year, eighty-five billion dollars in agricultural trade flows between the three nations.
• Canada and the U.S. are each other's largest trade partner for agriculture and food, with bilateral agriculture trade reaching CAD$62 billion (USD$47 billion) in 2016.
• Mexico is Canada's fourth largest export market for agriculture and agri-food, with CDN$1.7 billion worth of agri-food products shipped in 2016.

Associated Links

• Canada-United States Bilateral Agricultural and Agri-food Trade
• Agriculture and Food Market Intelligence ? United States
• Agriculture and Food Market Intelligence ? Mexico
• North American Free Trade Agreement (Global Affairs Canada)

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SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada