American Seed Trade Association applauds new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement

The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) applauds the news of a new trade agreement between the U.S. and its two largest export markets: Mexico and Canada.

“This trilateral deal is a win for the U.S. seed industry,” said ASTA President and CEO Andrew LaVigne. “We thank the administration for its efforts in reaching a strong agreement that fosters innovation and ensures robust science-based standards for the continued movement of seed with two of our most important trading partners.” 

While ASTA is still reviewing the full details of the agreement, the association is pleased to see the language includes its core priorities for trade. Most notably, the agreement provides stronger support for agricultural biotechnology and the trait approval process; recognizes the importance of evolving plant breeding methods like gene editing; strengthens science-based sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations; and provides strong intellectual property protections, including adoption of UPOV 91 requirements.

The U.S. is the largest market for seed in the world and is also the largest seed exporter. Seed varieties can cross six international borders before they are commercialized. This movement is critical to bring the highest quality seed to producers. Without seed exports, U.S. companies would lose $1.7 billion in sales annually. Mexico and Canada are our two largest export markets and vital trading partners. Of the $1.7 billion in U.S. exports, these trading countries account for $600 million in annual exports and make up 57-percent of U.S. corn-seed export sales.