Agriculture Under USMCA: North American Perspectives

President and CEO, American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA)

Cody Lusk is President and CEO of the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), representing the interests of America’s 9,500 international nameplate auto dealers in Washington, D.C. He has led the organization since 2006, following an earlier stint at AIADA as Director of Legislative Affairs from 1995 to 2001.

Between those two roles at AIADA, Lusk served as Chief of Staff in the U.S. House of Representatives and worked on legislative affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sergio Gómez Lora is a distinguished expert on North American trade policy with over 30 years of experience spanning government negotiations, private sector advisory, and business leadership. As a member of Mexico’s Trade Negotiations team from 1993 to 2001, he took part in the NAFTA Side Agreements negotiations, the implementation of NAFTA and Latin American free trade agreements, and Mexico’s FTA negotiations with the EU. During the USMCA renegotiation, he served as senior advisor to the Mexican private sector coalition and was an active member of “Cuarto de Junto,” Mexico’s private-sector technical advisory group on trade negotiations, directing business strategy and cross-border advocacy on rules of origin, labor standards, digital trade, and manufacturing competitiveness.

In 2005, Gómez Lora co-founded IQOM Inteligencia Comercial alongside Herminio Blanco, Jaime Zabludovsky, and Fernando Salas. Over its 21 years, IQOM has become a leader in the Mexican and Latin American markets, providing strategic trade and investment solutions to corporations, governments, and business associations across the region. Since 2019, he has led the Washington, D.C. presence of Mexico’s Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE), the business umbrella organization representing chambers and associations across all Mexican industrial sectors and serving as the unified voice of the Mexican private sector in dialogue with government on U.S.-Mexico economic relations.

Gómez Lora holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Laval University in Quebec, Canada.

Michael Harvey is Executive Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), representing a coalition of Canadian organizations in the beef, pork, grains, canola, and processed food sectors, among others, that depend on open international agricultural trade. He serves on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations and has been recognized as a Hill Times Top 100 Lobbyist. Before joining CAFTA, he was Vice President of Policy and International at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and earlier spent seven years as Latin America Regional Director and Mexico Director of Corporate Affairs for Newmont (formerly Goldcorp), where he led government relations across Mexico, Argentina, and Guatemala.

Harvey holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University and an LLM in International Commercial Law and Practice from the University of Edinburgh Law School. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Darci Vetter is Vice President of Public Affairs at Driscoll’s, where she leads the company’s engagement on trade, agriculture, and policy issues. She previously served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under President Obama, confirmed by the Senate in 2014, and as Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. Her government career also includes roles as an International Trade Advisor to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and various positions at USTR focused on agricultural affairs and sustainable development.

Vetter has since held senior roles at PepsiCo as Head of Global Public Policy and led her own advisory firm, Sower Strategies. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the National 4-H Council. Vetter holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Drake University and an M.P.A. in Public Policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School.