State Ag Secretary Karen Ross makes the case for extending and strengthening USMCA at Fresno Roundtable

The American Journal of Transportation 

Farmers, agribusiness leaders, and elected officials gathered at the Fresno County Farm Bureau on Tuesday to underscore how much of California's farm economy rides on tariff-free access to Canada and Mexico, and to urge negotiators to keep extending and strengthening the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as the six-year Joint Review moves forward.

California is the number one agricultural state in the nation, and Canada and Mexico are among its most important customers. According to new data released by Farmers for Free Trade at the event, California shipped $8.2 billion in agricultural products to its two USMCA partners in 2025, with $4.5 billion going to Canada and $3.7 billion to Mexico. Those exports supported an estimated 40,700 California jobs. Nowhere is the stake higher than in the San Joaquin Valley: Fresno County alone recorded a record $9.03 billion in agricultural production in 2024, making it the top-producing farm county in the United States.

The Fresno roundtable, part of Farmers for Free Trade's national USMCA Roundtable Series across congressional districts, brought local voices into a national conversation at a pivotal moment. On July 1, 2026, the three governments held the first mandatory Joint Review of USMCA. The administration chose not to confirm a full 16-year extension at that meeting, which moves the agreement into a cycle of annual reviews while it remains fully in force. Farmers for Free Trade has consistently supported the work of extending and strengthening the agreement, and the Fresno event was designed to keep farmer priorities front and center as that work continues.

Across two hours of discussion moderated by Rep. Costa, Secretary Ross, and Farmers for Free Trade Executive Director Brian Kuehl, growers and shippers representing table grapes, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, citrus, blueberries, avocados, cotton, dairy, and processed tomatoes returned again and again to the need for certainty. Participants described making planting, packing, labor, and capital decisions on multi-year horizons, and said predictable, zero-tariff access to Canada and Mexico is what allows those decisions to be made at all. Several noted that market share, once surrendered to competitors in Peru, Chile, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and the European Union, is slow and expensive to win back, and that consumers on both sides of the border have come to expect year-round availability that only an integrated North American supply chain can deliver. Speakers emphasized that farmers absorb the cost of trade disruption directly, and that a deliberate, strategic approach to the Joint Review serves growers and consumers alike.

The conversation also focused heavily on the work that remains beyond tariff lines. Participants pointed to alignment on maximum residue levels, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, protection of common food names, and the administration of Canada's dairy tariff-rate quotas as the areas where clear rules would deliver the most immediate value to exporters. Specialty crop representatives raised strong concerns about proposals to introduce seasonality and regionality standards into trade remedy law, warning that such provisions would fracture the year-round supply model that California growers, importers, and retailers have built together. Others highlighted the compounding pressure of domestic regulatory requirements, including truck emissions rules that affect cross-border freight movement into California ports, along with labor and immigration policy and a farm economy already under strain, with Fresno County producers projecting losses this year. Throughout, speakers framed USMCA as a template for twenty-first century agricultural trade agreements and as a foundation of American food security and national security.

The discussion featured Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21), who represents the Fresno area and has a long record on Central Valley trade issues, and California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross.

"The voice of the farmer has to be part of every trade conversation, and that is exactly what happened here today," said Rep. Jim Costa (CA-21). "Canada and Mexico are the San Joaquin Valley's closest and most important customers. When USMCA was negotiated, I fought to make sure specialty crops had a seat at the table, and as the Joint Review moves forward we need to keep that focus so our growers can be price makers rather than price takers. Reliable trade with our closest neighbors is also a matter of national security."

"California farmers and ranchers help feed families across North America, and they do it through supply chains that depend on predictable rules," said California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross. "The longer disruptions continue, the more our customers look for alternatives, which is why continuing USMCA matters so much. Extending and strengthening USMCA, paired with continued investment in research and innovation and strong public-private partnerships, is how we keep our food supply secure and our growers competitive."

"Mexico and Canada are our top two agricultural export markets, and few states have more riding on North American trade than California," said Brian Kuehl, Executive Director of Farmers for Free Trade. "We are encouraged by the work underway to extend and strengthen USMCA, and events like this one make sure the men and women who grow our food have a direct line into that conversation."

All California trade and jobs figures below are from Farmers for Free Trade's California USMCA Fact Sheet, prepared by Trade Partnership Worldwide.

• California exported $8.2 billion in agricultural products to Mexico and Canada in 2025.
• Canada purchased $4.5 billion of that total and Mexico purchased $3.7 billion.
• Those exports supported an estimated 40,700 California jobs in 2025.
• California's top agricultural exports to USMCA countries in 2025 were fruits and nuts ($2.32 billion), miscellaneous food exports ($1.51 billion), vegetables and melons ($1.24 billion), jams, pickles and specialty foods ($669 million), and dairy products ($613 million).
• California exported $205 million in lettuce to Canada in 2025, accounting for 76 percent of the state's lettuce exports to the world.
• Mexico purchased $76 million in California fresh and frozen poultry in 2025, accounting for 59 percent of the state's poultry exports to the world.
• Canada and Mexico together took 75 percent of California's miscellaneous fresh vegetable exports in 2025, with Canada accounting for 57 percent and Mexico 18 percent.
• California's miscellaneous food exports to USMCA countries have grown steadily every year since 2016, reaching roughly $1.5 billion in 2025.