Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is urging lawmakers in Washington to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which she says will help bring stability to her state's agriculture industry.
"Our message to Congress is to please rectify the USMCA. That'll bring a lot of certainty and predictability to the market," Reynolds told Cheddar on Thursday.
Following a year of negotiations, the USMCA was signed by President Donald Trump, now former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last November at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires. The trade deal was meant to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was established in 1994 and created a free trade zone between the three neighbors.
In an overwhelming vote last week, Mexico's General Congress approved the USMCA making Mexico the first country to fully sign onto the deal. The U.S. Congress and the Canadian Parliament have yet to ratify the pact.
"This is a very important advance," Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at a press conference last week. "It is a clear sign that there is unity in the country."
Canada and Mexico are currently the second and third largest trading partners with the U.S., with total trade topping $617 billion and $611 billion in 2018 respectively, according to government figures.
The USMCA covers numerous aspects of cross-border trade, including labor laws, environmental standards, and intellectual property rights. It also has specific provisions for various sectors like auto manufacturers, digital services, and agriculture. The U.S., for instance, negotiated hard for easier access to the Canadian dairy market.
Democrats, however, have expressed concerns over weak enforcement measures on workers' rights and environmental regulations, and have refused to hold a vote on the deal in the House.
"Without real enforcement mechanisms we would be locking American workers into another bad deal. A new trade agreement without enforcement is not progress for the American worker, just a press release for the President," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement in May. "We have been on a path to yes, but it must be a path that leads to an agreement that delivers positive results for American workers and farmers."
Nonetheless, Reynolds told Cheddar that Iowa's economy is growing, despite "some significant challenges with agricultural." Iowa is currently the second largest agricultural exporter in the U.S., with nearly 50 percent of its exports going to Canada and Mexico in 2018.
Farmers "really, really, really would like to see USMCA ratified," the Republican governor said.
Not everything is as it seems in the supermarket. From name brands under different labels, to confusing store layouts, supermarkets employ a variety of tactics to keep you spending. Including selling products with surprising ingredients. This episode of Who Knew? unveils the secrets of our supermarkets.
The world is amidst a skyscraper boom. In 2018, 146 buildings over 650 feet were constructed. That’s more than the total amount of skyscrapers constructed between 1979 and 1999. And all this construction is transforming our cities.
Amazon and online shopping have forever changed how we shop. While I love that I can order almost anything I need with the click of the mouse, this transition from in- person retail is shuttering MUCH of the brick and mortar landscape. But in what’s been deemed the “retail apocalypse” some brick and mortar stores are actually thriving.
From talking animals, to celebrity endorsements, to commercials that pull at your heart strings, agencies are always looking for new ways to connect with you. So it’s no surprise that trends come and go. But what might surprise you is how quickly trends change. In fact, most changes can be pinpointed to a single moment.
Over the decades American pastimes have come and gone. From the soda fountain, to carhop diners, to roller rinks. These former staples of American life have slowly faded into the void. And today, it looks like the time has come for a few other beloved businesses.
The streaming wars could be peaking as platforms vie for a shrinking pool of new subscribers and services like Disney+ recalibrate their outlooks as the rate of new memberships slows. Jana Arbanas, the U.S. telecom, media, and technology sector leader at Deloitte, joined Cheddar to discuss the 2022 outlook for streaming platforms, expecting more than 150 million people to cancel subscriptions adding to the global churn trend. "People are signing up for a service for a very specific piece of original, compelling content, watching that, perhaps, season of content, dropping that service, and then re-upping the service again when the next season comes out," Arbanas noted.
Chris Woodfolk, Corporate Citizenship Partner, LendingTree, joins Cheddar News to discuss how charitable giving is making a comeback from the pandemic and tips to donate on a budget.
TikTok isn't just for remixing the best trending sounds. The social media platform is having a positive impact on animal shelters and helping pets find forever homes, according to Katie Grissum, the communications and design coordinator for the non-profit animal shelter charity KC Pet Project. Grissum joined Cheddar to break down just how TikTok is being used to raise money and draw more eyes to animals in need of adoption.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri is slated to testify this week in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee after a Wall Street Journal report that found the Meta-owned social media platform is negatively impacting the mental wellness of teen girls.
