Premier and Swift Current MLA Brad Wall was south of the border earlier this week for meetings in Iowa.

Wall, along with Andrew Leslie, Parliamentary Secretary to the federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, headed to the Hawkeye State for Wednesday's meeting to promote US-Canada trade, as well as Saskatchewan-US trade.

The Premier explains he was asked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend on behalf of Canada.

"There's been a lot of talk about NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), and the new President wanting to get away from it. Of course, NAFTA is very beneficial to Canada, so I offered to the Prime Minister that if we could help in any way, we'd be happy to do it," he said.

The Premier says the meeting at the state capital of Des Moines went very well, and he recognizes the importance of keeping a strong relationship with Iowa, as well as the entire United States, for trade.

"Right now, in terms of their own exports, Canada is their number one market ahead of any other country in the world," Wall said. "That's true for 35 states actually. We need to get to those states and build awareness among the population so that if there's an unintended consequence of the President's trade actions that hurts their access to Canada in terms of their exports, that's not good for their economy."

Canada is the United States' largest customer, accounting for $266 billion US worth of imported goods last year. Iowa accounted for $3.4 billion US itself in 2016. In a release from the Saskatchewan Government, it was reported that an estimated 100,000 jobs in Iowa depend on trade and investment with Canada.

Wall also met with the Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, as well as the Agricultural sector to promote trade with Canada. In the Premier's case, trade with Saskatchewan was discussed and promoted as well.

Saskatchewan exported $355 million US worth of goods to Iowa last year. The shipped goods consisted primarily of potash, oats, canola oil and livestock (pigs). In turn, Iowa shipped $363 million US worth of products to Saskatchewan in 2016, with agricultural products being the main export.

"The United States is Saskatchewan’s largest export market and that economic relationship is critical to maintaining a strong Saskatchewan economy and contributing to the one in five Saskatchewan jobs that depend on international trade," Wall said. "Missions like this one are important in nurturing relationships with key U.S. decision makers and reinforcing the mutual benefits that derive from trade, investment and co-operation."