Grassley Praises USMCA’s Impact in Its First Six Years, Urges Extension of Historic Trade Agreement

Floor Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Senate President Pro Tempore “Importance of USMCA for Ag Exports” Thursday, February 5, 2026 VIDEO This year marks six years since the president and Congress approved the North American US-Mexico-[Canada] Agreement, “USMCA” for short. It’s also the year that the three countries will review the agreement and decide on its future. That six-year review is part of the agreement itself, so, it must be done. So, I would like to review the USMCA’s impact in the first six years. The agreement has really enhanced U.S. exports. So, President Trump has hailed the trade deal as, “a colossal victory for [our] farmers, ranchers, energy workers, factory workers and American workers in all 50 states.” What President Trump said there is 100% on target, when he made that statement about the value of the USMCA to the U.S. economy. Since 2019, U.S. agriculture exports have increased by almost 35 billion dollars, and nearly half of that was from just two countries, Canada and Mexico. After 10 years of relative stagnation before the agreement, the U.S. agriculture exports to Mexico shot up by 11 billion dollars between 2019 and 2024 to over a total of 30 billion dollars. Today, Mexico is the number one market for U.S. corn and around one-third of all U.S. agriculture exports go to either Canada [or] Mexico. And remember, I said, “Mexico [is] the number one market for U.S. corn.” Iowa, my state, is [the] number one producer of corn. So, you know how that benefits the farmers of Iowa. Now, to summarize, the U.S. agriculture exports pie has gotten bigger, and the biggest slices have been for Canada and Mexico because of the USMCA. This means bringing home more bacon for Iowa farmers. And when I mention bacon, Iowa’s also the number one pork producer of the 50 states. So, what I’ve just said to you is why it’s necessary to continue the great economic environment that the USMCA has produced for the United States. In other words, it’s a no-brainer to get the USMCA extended and get it done very, very soon. President Trump needs to speak forcefully about the success of the USMCA, along the same lines of the quote that I gave you earlier in my speech. We know it’s his strong position; it should be easy to restate that to everybody. His positive words will take the uncertainty out of whether this agreement will be extended and if it’s not extended, [it’s a] great economic loss to the United States. Uncertainty doesn’t help anybody’s economy. Such uncertainty is holding back our economic growth. -30-