Report: Kansas named among the most dependent states on ag exports to Mexico, would suffer under NAFTA withdrawal
On Jan. 23, Farmers for Free Trade, the bipartisan, grassroots campaign working to rebuild support for trade released a new report that outlines the specific threats the states most dependent on NAFTA ag trade with Mexico would face if American withdraws from the pact. The report, The NAFTA Withdrawal Tax, looks at the percentage tariff increase major commodities from each state would face in Mexico.
“Just as farmers and ranchers have been among the biggest beneficiaries of NAFTA, they’d also be the ones to feel the most pain if America withdraws from the pact,” Farmers for Free Trade co-chairs, Sens. Max Baucus and Richard Lugar, said following the release of the report. "That’s because NAFTA withdrawal would result in a massive tax on the products American farmers grow and produce.
“In this report, Farmers for Free Trade identifies the 10 states that would see their agricultural sectors most negatively impacted by NAFTA withdrawal with respect to Mexico and outline the steep price they would pay in the event of withdrawal. These taxes would lead to fewer products sold and declining profits. They would result in our farmers selling less to Mexico and declining prices, which is the last thing farmers can afford, particularly right when prices are already low and global supplies are high.”
The states that this new report profiles are: (1) Missouri, (2) New Mexico, (3) South Dakota, (4) Texas, (5) Nebraska, (6) Iowa, (7) Kansas, (8) Arkansas, (9) North Dakota, (10) Minnesota. Baucus and Lugar described how the tariffs, or tax hikes, in these state would impact rural communities.
“It’s not only farmers who would pay the price for NAFTA withdrawal. Rural communities, which run on the engine of the farm economy would suffer too. If farmers have less in their pockets, they spend less at local stores, restaurants, and contribute less to local schools and community organizations. Jobs throughout the agricultural production cycle that depend on trade suffer, including growers, harvesters, processors, packagers, as well as grain elevator operators, railroad workers, and truck drivers. The simple truth is that rural communities don’t work well when their economic engine is hurting."
