Persistent voices in Washington, D.C., are calling to rip up the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

They argue that broader tariffs and quotas on food produced in Mexico and Canada would strengthen American farmers and ranchers.

But a wholesale rewrite would hurt everyone, leaders across Arizona’s agriculture industry warned during a May 8 roundtable hosted by Farmers for Free Trade, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Arizona Farm Bureau.

“Florida and Georgia have asked for tariff rate quotas on blueberries, strawberries, bell peppers, squash, cucumbers, sweet corn, watermelon and avocados produced in Mexico,” Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, explained.

“Those items would be quite a bit more expensive if there are tariffs. We’d see less growing, and we’ll have less robust food supplies in a year like this,” where freezes and drought have damaged crops in Florida and parts of Mexico, he said.

3 nations, 1 integrated food system

USMCA replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.

The agreement updated food safety standards, among other provisions, but largely maintained tariff-free agricultural trade among the United States, Mexico and Canada. 

The three nations must decide by July 1 whether to extend USMCA for another 16 years. If it’s not extended, the deal must undergo annual reviews that could inject significant uncertainty into food and fiber markets.

And that could be disastrous for Arizona, which exported $1.1 billion in agricultural products to Mexico and Canada in 2025 alone.

Decades of predictable, tariff-free trade have allowed regions with diverse climates to focus on what they grow best, creating efficiencies that have helped bolster choices at the supermarket and lower the cost of food.

“What I try to stress is this is not a competitive thing,” said Paul Brierley, director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture. “This is an integrated food system. We go to the store now, and we can get anything we want to get, any time of the year. It didn’t used to be that way.”

USMCA bolsters Arizona farms, dairies

Arizona plays a key role in this complex supply chain. 

The port in Nogales is a key conduit for Mexican-produced tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in the winter and table grapes and watermelons in the summer.

These foods are shipped across America and into Canada, as are Yuma’s leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower and melons.

Arizona meat product exports to Canada have nearly quadrupled since 2022, and its dairy industry has found a growing market in Mexico for milk protein concentrate, a key ingredient in protein bars and shakes.

Mexico doesn’t have the dairy processing infrastructure to meet demand.

But Arizona does — and because of its success with milk protein concentrate, is now finding opportunities to sell whey protein, butter and other high-value dairy products in Mexico.

“Overall, it’s an absolute win,” said Jim Boyle, a fourth-generation Casa Grande farmer who represented Arizona Farm Bureau and United Dairymen of Arizona at the forum.

It also underscores why agriculture needs clear, flexible trade rules. 

Even though Arizona consumes most of the milk it produces, finding a new market for a valuable product only helps to stabilize and diversify this critical industry, Boyle said.

Improve, not abandon, core trade rules

USMCA isn’t perfect. 

The agreement lacks comprehensive provisions to combat dumping, when food products are sold in other nations below the cost to produce them there.

Labor and food-safety standards also have been inconsistently enforced, creating confusion for producers.

The three nations should explore opportunities to improve USMCA’s shortcomings, but not if it means abandoning its core principles, agriculture leaders stressed.

“The tariff-free integration that we have is so important,” Brierley said. “It’s not broken, it’s shown its value, and we need to keep it.”


What does USMCA mean to you?

How does trade with Mexico or Canada impact your farm or ranch? Share your story at advocacy@azfb.org.


Joanna Allhands writes about water, land use and other issues important to the Arizona Farm Bureau. Reach her at joannaallhands@azfb.org.