During a recent hearing, South Dakota Senator John Thune complained to U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai (tie) that the White House’s refusal to boost market opening trade deals is harming agricultural producers.
“We’re running the largest trade deficit this year—ever. $17 billion this year, they’re saying it could be $30 billion this coming year. And, net farm income was down 30 million dollars last year and will be down they say, 39 billion dollars this year. So, thanks to inflation, input costs are going up, and commodity prices are going down. One of the things that affects commodity prices is demand.”
But, Trade Ambassador Tai argues some– like the UK and EU– don’t want to do ag deals, and free trade agreements don’t boost demand fast enough.
“Market access can come more quickly, more effectively, in more agile ways, if we are looking for those opportunities to score, what we like to call ‘singles and doubles,’ to rack up the score that way, as opposed to tying up opportunities over the course of many, many years in FTA negotiations that sometimes don’t ever come into being.”
Tai cited $21 billion worth of agriculture market gains in Japan, India and other countries over the past three years, but Thune wasn’t satisfied.
“Now, you say we’ve got a different approach to trade, and I understand that approach is grounded in things other than market access. But market access is what our farmers and ranchers are looking for to open up the markets, so they can sell their products and get the trade deficit back to a trade surplus and get this net farm income back in the positive column.”
Tai, however, insisted some of the deficit is due to a strong U.S. economy, adding she wished agriculture leaders were as concerned with the industrial trade deficit as they are with the ag trade deficit.
Comments