Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/29/17

President Donald Trump's trip to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with Senate Republicans naturally focused on rallying votes on the tax-cut bill, but Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts couldn't resist the chance to raise the agriculture industry's concerns over the NAFTA renegotiation. As Trump left the meeting, "he said, 'How are your farmers?'" Roberts told Pro Trade's Adam Behsudi. "I said, 'They're worried about NAFTA, and I need to talk to you.' He said, 'I'll get back to you.'"

Afterward, Roberts told Adam in a brief interview that he wants to work in concert with what Trump seeks to achieve in the NAFTA talks, "but we want to point out that starting a clock on NAFTA is not the answer." 

That's a reference to a potential negotiating strategy Trump had previously flirted with, in which the White House would notify Canada and Mexico of an intent to withdraw from the deal in hopes that the two countries would be forced to make concessions before the six-month withdrawal window closed. Roberts added that the agriculture community must demonstrate "what this truly means in terms of lost jobs, lost opportunity, especially given the rough patch we're in."

"In this town nothing is inevitable," the Kansas Republican said when asked if he thinks it's a foregone conclusion that Trump will notify Canada and Mexico of an intent to withdraw from the pact. Roberts said the fight for NAFTA's survival also will depend on ag getting through to Trump's closest advisers.

"I think there's a mindset that he [Trump] has and that [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross reflects," Roberts added. "To a certain extent [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer agrees with it or he wouldn't be in the position he's in. I think it's more of a hurdle with Secretary Ross than it is with Bob because Bob worked for Bob Dole for 15 years; he knows what the circumstances are in agriculture. We have to really unite and come together - and right now, we're doing that."