WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp spoke at a panel discussion on the importance of NAFTA to North Dakota agriculture producers and highlighted the diverse range of products North Dakota farmers export, like barley that makes its way into popular beer brands like Corona and Modelo.

The panel also featured Doyle Lentz, who farms barley and wheat in Rolla, North Dakota, as well as representatives and distributors of beers that rely on U.S. barley and support American farmers.

“North Dakota’s agriculture producers know that to succeed, they have to be able to export their products, and NAFTA gives them access to our state’s two biggest foreign markets,” Heitkamp said. “It’s easy to take trade policy for granted when you’re sipping a cold beer, but the barley and other products we export to Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere can’t reach 95 percent of the world’s consumers if we don’t have a smart trade policy that protects NAFTA and opens new markets for the products we produce. I’ll keep fighting to protect and expand markets for our farmers and ranchers to give them the certainty they need to build and maintain their business relationships.”  

“The barley I grow in North Dakota near the Canadian border takes an incredible journey to Mexico, and returns to American bars and backyard barbeques in the form of the beer we all enjoy,” Lentz said. “It’s a journey that’s made possible by NAFTA, which allows agriculture producers to export the products I grow in my fields and reach the world’s consumers. Without NAFTA, an already struggling ag economy would be put in turmoil, so agriculture producers like me are fortunate that members of congress like Senator Heitkamp understand the importance of trade to our economy and are fighting to protect our way of life.”

Heitkamp interviewed Lentz on a recent episode of her podcast, ‘The Hotdish,’ focusing on trade’s critical importance to rural America. Click here to listen to the episode.

North Dakota is the ninth largest agriculture exporting state in the country, with $5.3 billion in commodities exported in 2017 —and Canada and Mexico are the state’s two biggest foreign markets. For example, of North Dakota’s exports, 95 percent of its corn, 88 percent of its beef, 86 percent of its pork, and 100 percent of its poultry go to Canada and Mexico, according to a recent Farm Bureau report.

Heitkamp has long worked to expand and protect market access for North Dakota farmers and ranchers. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Heitkamp is committed to protecting crucial export promotion programs in the 2018 Farm Bill. 

Click here to read Heitkamp’s op-ed on why smart trade policies are needed to support North Dakota farmers and ranchers.

Heitkamp has been fighting to protect and expand markets for North Dakota goods, pushing the administration to back off damaging threats to withdrawal from NAFTA and speaking out against tariffs that would put the state’s economy at risk. She recently reiterated those concerns in a conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as she pressed him to protect North Dakota’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and has requested an analysis on the economic impact of proposed tariffs on small businesses like family farms from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Heitkamp has cosponsored bipartisan legislation introduced by Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake to nullify the aluminum and steel tariffs announced by the administration on March 8.

Exports are a critical component of North Dakota’s farming, ranching, and manufacturing economy. For example:

• 60 percent of North Dakota’s exports to China are agricultural products, according the U.S. Department of Commerce.

• 71 percent of North Dakota soybeans go to Asia, primarily China, according to the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. On the day the proposed Chinese tariffs were announced, there was a 40 cent drop in price, which would equate to a $99.4 million dollar loss to ND farmers. Or a loss of $16.60 per acre.

• North Dakota exports 95 percent of its corn, 88 percent of its beef, 86 percent of its pork, and 100 percent of its poultry to our NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico, according to a recent Farm Bureau report.

• North Dakota is in the top 10 most exposed states to new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, according to the Brookings Institution.

• North Dakota is home to over 17,000 workers employed in industries that are particularly dependent on production and consumption of steel and aluminum, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• 50 percent of North Dakota’s exports to the European Union are agricultural and construction.

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