Farmers urge Congress to pass USMCA in song spoofing Village People's YMCA
Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst on farmers urging Congress to pass USMCA.
Move over, Village People. You've got some unexpected competition.
A group of U.S growers calling themselves the Farming People have released a parody of the band's disco-era "YMCA" that urges members of a gridlocked Congress including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass the "USMCA," an acronym for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The trade deal is the Trump administration's overhaul of the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement.
“Trump man, we have crops on our land. I said, Trump man, trade would give us a hand. I said, Nancy, we know you’re the woman -- who can get -- this --deal --through -- Congress,” are the first lyrics from the three-minute video showing what the USMCA would mean to U.S. growers and the broader economy.
Trump has pushed lawmakers to approve his pact, but Democrats -- who regained control of the House of Representatives before it could be ratified -- are resistant.
Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst told FOX Business’ Lauren Simonetti that he’s still “optimistic,” and it’s important to have the USMCA to counter the damage to farmers' finances from the Trump administration's trade war with China.
“It's very important that I have the ability to sell the corn and soybeans we raise on our farm in northwest Missouri to Canada and Mexico,” he said. “Canada and Mexico are our two biggest customers for the things we produce; we've got to have those markets. The USMCA is an improvement over NAFTA, not a huge one, but an improvement and we need to get it passed.”
Mexico is the only country to ratify the trade deal so far.