PENN YAN—Today, Democratic Congressional Nominee Tracy Mitrano (NY-23) issued the following statement on the ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations and the possibility that Canada will not be included in the final agreement.
“A potential trade deal between the United States and Mexico is certainly good news,” Mitrano said. “The U.S. needs to establish fair deals with its fellow nations, ensuring that our transactions are good for the American people, as well as consistent with our national commitment to ensuring human rights for all people.
“But Canada cannot be left out in the cold. NAFTA, for all its flaws, had the advantage of being a trilateral agreement, one that included two of our largest trading partners. Fair trade with our northern neighbor is absolutely crucial to the upstate New York economy, and to the Southern Tier in particular. We need a fair agreement with Canada, especially on agriculture and dairy products, so that New York dairy farmers—who have long struggled due to difficulties selling in the protected Canadian market—are not further squeezed by unfair trading practices.
“The President claims that he has his people’s interests at heart in renegotiating these trade deals. I hope, for the sake of our working families, that he does. He may believe that trade wars are ‘easy to win,’ but such a conflict with Canada would have a devastating impact on farmers in New York’s 23rd District.
“The news that Canadian officials are currently in discussions with the administration is encouraging, and I hope these talks prove fruitful. I urge the President to put the American people first, and waste no time in negotiating a deal with Canada that is beneficial to all and truly serves the needs of our local economy.”