U.S. Senator Pat Roberts is calling for a public education campaign to help deflate claims by President Donald Trump and others that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a disaster for the U.S.
AsThe Topeka Capital-Journal reports, the chair of the Senate’s agriculture committee said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that trade inspired by NAFTA had been a powerful economic force for Kansas agriculture and export markets in Canada and Mexico were essential for preventing further price deterioration in the crop and livestock markets.
Roberts said the president’s claim that NAFTA had been a “total disaster” and represented the “worst trade deal” in U.S. history must be countered by agriculture and business leaders with a better sense of the economic landscape.
He said U.S. agricultural exports since the signing of NAFTA in 1993 had risen 289 percent to Mexico and 265 percent to Canada and that Mexico has grown to be the top destination for Kansas wheat.
