With TPP a distant memory, NCBA hopes to protect NAFTA

Actions taken by the White House have spelled the almost certain demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Rather than licking their wounds from their loss, a major agricultural trade supporter is now being forced to jump into action to protect a long-standing deal. Trade was the unmistakable hot topic at last week’s Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville. The industry, which has been jumping for joy at President Donald Trump’s plans for regulatory reform, must now cope with the fact that his trade policies and those of the industry are often in direct contradiction. Specifically, the nation’s largest cattle organization is anxious to figure out where Trump’s actions leave the North American Free Trade Agreement. “We’re concerned that if we’re threatening to leave NAFTA altogether, then we’re going to leave some of the greatest market access the U.S. beef industry has ever seen,” Kent Bacus, director of international trade for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, told Agri-Pulse.