By Howard Fischer | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs supports extending the USMCA free-trade agreement with Mexico and Canada
- Hobbs acknowledges the need to consider water usage for agricultural exports, including who benefits
- Arizona’s water situation raises questions about growing water-intensive crops locally
Gov. Katie Hobbs says an extension of the free-trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada is critical for Arizona’s agricultural economy.
But the governor also acknowledged that there needs to be a consideration of the water used to grow those crops. And that, she said, includes not just the question of the volume of water but also who benefits.
All this came Friday, with a deadline fast approaching for a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Under its terms, all three countries have to decide this year whether to extend the agreement until 2042 or let it sunset in 2036.
