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Farm-state senators beat the drum on trade
Story Date: 4/26/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/25/18
A hearing convened by the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday was filled with the steady rhythm of concern over President Donald Trump's trade strategy and its effects on the U.S. farm economy. The panel was broadly billed as one on "rural America," but farm-state senators used the opportunity to direct Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to impress upon the Trump administration how sensitive commodity markets are to trade actions.
The casualties: Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said producers, in some cases, are being used as pawns in Trump's crackdown on what it argues are unfair trade practices by China and other countries. Case in point: sorghum.
Last week, China began requiring U.S. companies to post a 178.6 percent deposit on the value of sorghum shipments into the country - a barrier that will effectively act as a tariff and cut off U.S. sorghum trade. "What is the path forward? How can we avoid that?" Roberts asked Perdue.
The secretary's tightrope: After one full year of serving in the Trump administration, Perdue is adept at walking a careful line on trade - both defending the president's actions while seeking to reassure farmers and ranchers that he has their back.
The secretary said that attempts by past administrations to get China to change its practices - such as stealing foreign companies' intellectual property and valuable technology as a condition of doing business in the country - have result in "all talk and no action."
While Trump's strategy may be unconventional, it has worked to some degree, Perdue said, citing the updated trade agreement between U.S. and South Korea. But he acknowledged it didn't contain much added benefit for U.S. food producers. More from Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau here.
Mnuchin headed to China to calm the waters: Trump announced Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will be traveling to China in a few days with the goal of negotiating a deal to avert slapping tariffs on up to $150 billion worth of goods from the country. The Wall Street Journal says the delegation will also include U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
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