U.S. producers warn Trump’s tariffs jeopardize their access to Canada, Mexico

A crucial hearing in Washington into the future of Canada’s three-way trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico kicked off Wednesday with U.S. agriculture, business and policy groups urging the Trump administration not to scrap the agreement.

The hearing, held by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), is the centrepiece of the government’s public consultation about whether to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in 2026, renegotiate it, or withdraw.

Speaker after speaker called for an extension of the agreement, emphasizing how its free trade terms have allowed their sector to boost revenues through access to both the Canadian and Mexican markets.

Several warned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff-fuelled trade war puts that lucrative access at risk.

Dave Walton, secretary of the American Soybean Association, spoke out against Trump’s move to hit Canadian and Mexican exports with tariffs, including those targeting specific industrial products such as steel, aluminum and automotive parts.

The tariffs “increase the likelihood that U.S. soybean farmers will end up in the crosshairs of potential retaliation,” Walton said.

“Our industry would not survive a long tariff battle with our two closest customers,” he said, adding that a failure to renew the trade deal – known south of the border as USMCA – would be catastrophic for his industry.

Riley Bushue, vice-president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, representing the biggest U.S. apple, pear and cherry growers, a $13 billion US industry, said retaliatory tariffs imposed by Mexico during Trump’s first-term trade war damaged his industry’s exports.

'Severe economic losses'

“With thousands of American family tree-fruit farms already at risk of going out of business, losing preferential access to Mexico and Canada would be devastating,” Bushue told the hearing.

“There are no other export market opportunities capable of offsetting the severe economic losses to growers in the event that we lose preferential access to Mexico and Canada.”

Testimony at the hearing will, in theory, feed into the Trump administration’s decision whether to extend CUSMA when it’s up for review on July 1, 2026.

Under federal law, the USTR must by Jan. 2 report to Congress its recommendation on renewing the trade agreement or taking other action.

While the witnesses were testifying about the agreement on Wednesday, a reporter asked Trump for his position on renegotiating it.

"We'll either let it expire, or we'll maybe work out another deal with Mexico and Canada," Trump said at the White House.

"Mexico and Canada have taken advantage of the United States like just about every other country," he continued before launching into a defence of his tariffs.

150 witnesses

Nearly 150 people are scheduled to present over the three-day hearing, grouped by industry.

Wednesday’s list was dominated by U.S. agricultural producers, along with the clothing and pharmaceutical sectors, plus a range of trade policy experts.

Among the sectors that urged the Trump administration to renew the trade deal: almond producers, berry producers and corn growers.

Raquel Espinoza, chairwoman of the Arizona-based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, representing import and distribution businesses, called for the “preservation of tariff-free trade” with Canada and Mexico.

“Protectionism enriches a few at the expense of American consumers and agricultural exports” Espinoza told the hearing.

Alicia Rockwell, chief government affairs officer for Blue Diamond, the major California-based almond producer, called Canada and Mexico “absolutely critical markets” for her industry and described CUSMA as “essential for the survival of thousands of family farms.”

Certain sectors, while supporting the trade deal’s extension, raised technical issues with the way it is being implemented, with the bulk of criticism from Wednesday’s speakers targeted at Mexico.

Avocado growers raised concerns that inspections of imported avocados from Mexico are inadequate to stop the risk of pests and asked for quotas to limit the amount of avocados coming in tariff-free.

Mexico's enforcement

Florida’s fruit and vegetable growers claimed Mexican government subsidies are undercutting their business and urged the Trump administration to push for tariff

Teddy Koukoulis, chair of the North American Blueberry Council, said U.S. blueberry exports to Canada have risen extraordinarily as a result of the trade agreement, but raised concerns about Mexico’s monitoring of labour standards.

“We don’t need to revise the standards, I think we need to hold the Mexican government for making sure that they enforce the standards,” Koukoulis said.

Canada’s agricultural trade practices did not escape without criticism, particularly for its protection of the dairy sector.

“In contrast to Mexico, Canada has always been a particularly challenging dairy trading partner,” said Shawna Morris, executive vice president of the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

“Regrettably, Canada has a long history of working to identify and exploit loopholes in its dairy trade commitments rather than abiding by them in good faith,” Morris told the hearing,

Becky Rasdall Vargas, senior vice-president of the International Dairy Foods Association, urged the Trump administration to preserve the positive elements of CUSMA while rectifying what she called violations of the agreement.

Canada’s implementation of the agreement “has actually limited U.S. dairy exporter access to the Canadian market instead of improving it as was intended,” Rasdall Vargas told the hearing.

“Canada has done very little to address those concerns meaningfully,” she said.

Two officials representing U.S. beef producers told the hearing they want mandatory country of origin labelling to become part of a renewed agreement.

A representative of the U.S. distilled spirits sector called for the trade deal to include geographic designations that would apply to such products as American bourbon, Canadian rye, and Mexican tequila and mescal.