Conversations to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began this week.
The dean of University of Arizona's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (UA CALS) joined more than 50 other public university leaders in a letter to the U.S. secretaries of commerce and
agriculture.
The letter details how NAFTA quadrupled American agriculture exports to Canada and Mexico. It says all of the agriculture college deans quote strongly support the continued robust export of U.S. farm products under NAFTA.
UA CALS Dean Shane Burgess said Arizona, being a border state, benefits a lot from NAFTA.
"Every time a good or a service or a person moves across that border, money falls off. And it's contributing to these local economies," said Burgess.
The letter says agriculture exports are critical to rural America.
"And all of the gains we've made in not just exports but in food safety, in regulations, in environmental protection and using science as a basis for decision-making — all of those gains would go away along with the economic gains," Burgess said.
Burgess, and the letter, says U.S. agriculture exports flourished under NAFTA.
