Hartzler: I appreciate President Trump working for better NAFTA deal

(From Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler)

This is an important week in America’s trade dealings with its neighbors. On Sunday night, Canada agreed to join the United States and Mexico in a deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico previously agreed to a new arrangement with the United States, but Canada had not come to the table until this week.

The United States and Canada have long been friendly trading partners. In recent years however, Canada has not been dealing on a level playing field with our country. For instance, Canada had imposed a 241 percent tariff on American fluid milk while the U.S. imposed NO tariff on Canadian liquid milk. Thankfully, Canada is willing to negotiate this trade imbalance. Free trade must be fair trade – for the three countries involved in the new agreement.

I have been a vocal advocate for finalizing fair trade deals in an expeditious manner and am pleased with the priority the Trump Administration has given to getting good deals for the American people. I look forward to studying this agreement further and appreciate the President fighting for American interests across the world stage.