August 10, 2017

Agriculture needs a front seat at trade table

Topic: Issues

August 8, 2017: There is a lot of hand-wringing going on as it relates to American trade. President Trump has promised to put America first. But any trade decision by the Administration has to take into account the integral role agriculture plays in the future success of our country.

Download the Making America first in trade mp3

Read the transcript:

There seems to be a lot of hand-wringing right now when it comes to trade and trade issues. President Trump has promised to put America first. And we still believe that, that promise will be upheld.

However, some of the hand-wringing may be justified. It is time that this Administration start taking the steps necessary to ensure that our trade is robust with other countries; that agriculture has a front-seat at that table and not a back seat.

I think we’ve got a bright future ahead of us. I think this Administration will negotiate great things. Maybe it’s not happening at the pace that many would wish it would. However, there are every day conversations happening to make sure that the United States is always going to be put first and foremost when it comes to these negotiated deals.

When it comes to the renegotiation of NAFTA and some of those trade agreements, I think there are things we can gain. Now, they have to be watched and monitored to make sure that we do not go backwards from where we are today. But there are always enhancements that can be achieved. And for that, we applaud the Administration for taking those steps to make the needed improvements, the necessary changes, to make sure that we keep America first when it comes to any trade agreement, whether it’s just across our land borders or across the ocean borders with countries in the Pacific Rim, Asia, Europe.

No matter where it will be, we want to make sure that we never get the short end of the deal, but rather, get a fair trade and an equal trade opportunity that is good for not only agriculture, but great for our country.