Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds keeps up pressure on NAFTA talks

JOHNSTON - More work remains to convince federal leaders that the U.S. should not withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, given the damage that would do to Iowa's agriculture economy, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday.

Reynolds traveled to the nation's capital last week to discuss the trade agreement with top federal leaders, including Vice President Mike Pence and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

During her weekly news conference Tuesday at DuPont Pioneer headquarters in Johnston, Reynolds described those discussions as 'healthy” but said Iowa leaders must continue urging federal leaders to be cautious with the trade agreement.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. must renegotiate multiple international trade deals, including NAFTA, a trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico signed in 1994.

Canada and Mexico are Iowa's top trade partners, and Iowa government and ag leaders say U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA would damage Iowa's economy.

'It would be devastating,” Reynolds said.

During her trip to Washington, Reynolds spoke with Pence, Perdue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Reynolds said she made clear to those leaders that a U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA would crush Midwest farmers, who already are feeling the pinch of low commodity and land prices.

'Their intention is to hold ag harmless, but the fact of the matter is whenever we talk about pulling out (of trade deals), commodity prices are affected immediately, and that will be one of the first casualties that we'll see,” Reynolds said. 'So we're going to hold them accountable. We're going to continue to have conversations.”

Ross earlier this year said he thinks farm groups and advocates are exaggerating when they say a U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA would hurt farmers.

Reynolds said she told Ross that farmers' concerns are legitimate.

'I indicated to (Ross) that (farmers) are feeling the pressure, and they're concerned,” Reynolds said. 'And if you think they're going to stand down and just let this be a negotiating tactic, they're not. You're going to hear from me. And you're going to hear from Iowa farmers about the impact that this would have on the ag economy, not only in Iowa but in the Midwest and across this country. It's serious.”

The U.S., Canada and Mexico met in November to negotiate potential changes to the trade agreement. U.S. officials expressed frustration that the other countries did not seem willing to make changes, while Canada and Mexico said some of the U.S. demands would harm all three countries.

Reynolds said her administration will continue to communicate its concerns.

'Free and fair trade, modernizing, we're all about that,” she said. 'But we just need to be very careful about how we talk about this moving forward.”