The Kansas congressional delegation Monday reacted favorably to the Trump administration’s announcement that the U.S. and Mexico have reached a preliminary accord to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The deal that is intended to encourage more manufacturing in the United States.

“From day one President Trump promised that he would negotiate free and fair trade deals that would put America first,” Kansas First District Republican Congressman Roger Marshall said. “I am thrilled to see him make good on that promise by modernizing NAFTA and striking a bilateral agreement with Mexico.”

The deal updates the NAFTA agreement so that it meets the demands of the 21st-century global economy, Marshall said. The pact is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America that went into force Jan. 1, 1994.  

“The days of taking advantage of our American businesses and producers are over,” Marshall said. “I want to commend USTR (United States Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer) and their work to reach an agreement with Mexico.”

By Friday, he expects the administration to send its intent to sign to Congress. That notice will be followed shortly by the full text being made public.

“I look forward to fully reviewing the agreement and swift approval by Congress,” Marshall said. “I’ve said it over and over again, our farmers need certainty, and solidifying this deal with our Mexican markets is a crucial piece to the puzzle. With this agreement, Kansas producers will be treated more fairly as it explicitly reduces trade-distorting policies on agricultural goods and promotes complete transparency between the US and Mexico.”

The deal also met with approval in the Senate.

“As I’ve expressed to the administration on numerous occasions, any agreement that has been in place for decades should be reviewed and modernized, and I am pleased President Trump has reached a preliminary deal with Mexico.,” Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said. “Kansas is an export state, and our ability to make a living is directly tied to our ability to export the goods we grow and manufacture.”

“I thank President Trump for his work to improve trade relations with one of our top trading partners,” fellow Republican Sen. Pat Roberts said. “I am eager to learn more of the details of the new U.S.-Mexico trade deal.”

The value of U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico has increased by 305 percent since NAFTA entered into force; farmers and ranchers need to be able to rely on that important market. “I’m hopeful the Administration will move quickly on securing a beneficial trade deal with Canada in the coming days,” Roberts said.

At the same time, President Donald Trump threatened to keep Canada, the third member of NAFTA, out of any new trade agreement. In announcing the tentative accord Monday at the White House, Trump said a new pact would be called “the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.”

Trump said he was open to including Canada — “if they’d like to negotiate fairly.” He threatened to impose new taxes on Canadian auto imports to intensify pressure on Ottawa to a agree to deal to Trump’s liking.

Canada’s NAFTA negotiator, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, is cutting short a trip to Europe to fly to Washington Tuesday to try to restart talks.

“My hunch is that our agreement with Mexico will put pressure on Canada to come to the negotiating table so that we can restore a full and true modernized NAFTA agreement,” Marshall said.

This initial agreement between the United States and Mexico is a needed step in beginning to inject certainty back into American trade policies, Moran said. “Still, we must re-engage Canada – the top export market for Kansas in 2017 – to reach a trilateral consensus and deescalate ongoing tariff disputes worldwide to provide our nation’s producers with a larger degree of market expectations and stability. I will continue to engage the administration to make certain the voices of Kansas farmers, ranchers and manufacturers are being heard in deliberations.”

“I’m hopeful the Administration will move quickly on securing a beneficial trade deal with Canada in the coming days,” Roberts said.

This announcement continued the good news for the economy, with the stock market hitting all-time highs once the US and Mexico reached the trade deal.