WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which modernizes the previous trade pact, strengthens the trade relationship between these North American nations, and provides critical market access for U.S. agriculture. Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued the following statement praising it’s ratification by the United States:
“This historic agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada is welcomed by biofuel producers across North America, as it reinforces our already strong trade relationship and opens the door for more opportunities for our allies in the agriculture industry. We are grateful to President Trump, his administration, and our champions in Congress for their steadfast commitment to securing this win for American agriculture.”
Canada is the only remaining country that needs to ratify the trade agreement. Once this happens, the three countries must meet procedural obligations before the deal takes full effect.
The USMCA provides market access and trade opportunities for U.S. biofuel and its coproducts. Mexico’s move toward a ten percent blend of ethanol nationwide could deliver a potential new market of 1.2 billion gallons for U.S. producers.
Canada is the U.S.’s second-largest ethanol export market, accepting 347 million gallons in 2018. The Canadian market has the potential to increase materially over the next 10 years due to changes in both federal and provincial policy, including pushes by Ontario and Quebec to move to a fifteen percent ethanol blend. The Canadian province of Manitoba also recently announced it will move province-wide to a ten percent ethanol blending standard.
Additionally, Mexico is the U.S.’s largest dried distillers grains (DDGs) export destination, with over 2 million metric tons shipped in 2018. Canada was our seventh largest export destination for DDGs with 664 thousand metric tons in 2018, and is on track to be the fifth largest export destination in 2019.