Lawmakers concerned about NAFTA’s affect on Idaho

State representatives are worried about Idaho’s economy if the US pulls out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

There is still some uncertainty surrounding NAFTA talks between the US, Canada, and Mexico. No deal has been reached yet, but President Trump has threatened to quit the deal.

A few Idaho state representatives are worried about the impact this could have on Idaho’s agriculture economy.

In an op-ed released today, House Democratic leader Mat Erpelding and Republican Senator Jim Patrick said, “…Since 1994, the year NAFTA went into effect, exports from Idaho companies to Canada and Mexico have shot up 800 percent. Nearly half of our farm and food exports went to Mexico and Canada last year. Idaho’s dairy exports have doubled over the last decade.”

The Idaho Farm Bureau President Bryan Searle says that without these export markets, there won’t be any farmers or ranchers left.

“It affects every one of us, it doesn’t matter if we’re Republican or Democrat or whatever,” Searle said. “At the end of the day, we’re producing food and fiber to feed the world. And if we don’t have markets for that, that destroys our economy.”

There has been no decision to leave NAFTA yet and talks are still happening. Searle says he recently met with the Canadian Minister of Agriculture who said NAFTA needed to be looked at because it is outdated. He wasn’t worried about the future of the agreement.

“We’re at the table,” Searle said. “Negotiations are progressing along. Each time they meet they make progress and at this point they’re looking for a good outcome at the end.”

Mexico and Canada have reportedly pushed to speed up the NAFTA talks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently said President Trump appears to be enthusiastic about reaching an agreement.