IL CORN THANKFUL FOR USMCA SIGNING

Lindsay Mitchell

Nov 30, 2018  |  Today's News |  Exports |  Legislation & Regulation

Today, Illinois corn farmers are thankful for the ceremonial signing of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as the two neighbors are some of our largest agricultural trading partners.

 

“Illinois corn farmers rely on a relationship with our closest neighbors, Mexico and Canada, to sell not only corn, but also ethanol, dried distiller’s grains, poultry, pork, and beef.  Mexico and Canada are our top customers of corn in all forms.  That makes today’s signing of the USMCA an important day for corn farmers,” said Illinois Corn Growers Association President Ted Mottaz.

 

Mexico is the number one purchaser of U.S. corn, buying almost 14 million metric tons of corn in 2016/2017 and 15.7 million metric tons in 2017/2018.  The marketing year ended August 31, 2018.  The total value of Mexico’s corn purchases in 2017/2018 was $2.585 billion.

 

 

Canada is also in the top ten purchasers of U.S. corn, buying 670 thousand metric tons in 2016/2017 and 1.6 million metric tons in 2017/2018.  The total value of Canada’s corn purchases in 2017/2018 was $246.5 million.

 

Canada is our number one importer of U.S. ethanol, spending almost $600 million with us in 2017/2018.  Mexico is our number one purchaser of pork, spending almost $1.5 billion.  In fact, if we consider corn in all forms, Canada spent $3.2 billion with us last year and Mexico spent just over $7 billion.

 

These are good friends.

 

We can’t know exactly how much of this U.S. corn is Illinois corn, but we do understand that a good portion of this U.S. corn export total is corn from Illinois due to our easy access to the export markets.

 

Most importantly, knowing that our access to our neighboring export markets is crucial for farmers who are living through significant economic peril.

 

“Thank you to the Trump administration for prioritizing this trade agreement and taking important first steps to continue our relationship with Mexico and Canada.  Farmers in Illinois and all over the nation are desperate for the stability that this trade agreement will provide, and we urge Congressional leadership to move quickly to ratify this agreement.”

 

For a good look at the impact of Canada and Mexico as trading partners compared with other countries, use these two resources:

FEED GRAINS IN ALL FORMS

TOP US EXPORT CUSTOMERS