NAFTA has bolstered corn and soybean farmers, their respective industries and the economy, according to groups that represent those industries.

US corn exports to Mexico and Canada have increased seven-fold since NAFTA’s implementation in 1994.  The US exports billions of dollars’ worth of corn and soybeans to Canada and Mexico each year. In 2015, the total was $3.7 billion, including $438 million of soy products to Canada and $2.44 billion to Mexico.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say many farmers are still farming today because of NAFTA,” said Corn Refiners Association CEO John Bode. “We know that President Trump has a lot of experience negotiating good deals. We support him in updating and improving NAFTA.”

“Among NAFTA’s many accomplishments,” added National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Skunes, “it has opened markets in Canada and Mexico to American farmers that would otherwise be closed completely or complicated by needless barriers. While modernizing the agreement would surely benefit America’s food and agriculture industries, consumers and the economy, a withdrawal from NAFTA would devastate communities and families across the heartland.”

“NAFTA, agreed US Soybean Export Council For The Americas Regional Director Kevin Roepke, “is critically important to your bottom line as farmers as well as the entire economy of Kansas in general.”