Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue completed his fourth “Back to Our Roots” tour last week in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. During one of his stops in Colorado, the topics turned from local state ag issues to those facing the nation’s farmers and ranchers. Key among these was trade, specifically the threatened tariffs with China.
“Trade is in the forefront of what we’re trying to do worldwide,” Perdue told the roughly 60 town hall participants, most of them leaders of state ag groups.
“There’s a legitimate anxiety out here about these trade policies and negotiations.”
“There’s a legitimate anxiety out here about these trade policies and negotiations,” Perdue acknowledged on the first question on trade. He told attendees that President Donald Trump has charged trade negotiators with the goal of increasing China’s purchase of U.S. agricultural goods.
“He’s very focused, you know, on closing this trade deficit and one of the easiest ways that China can do that is through ag production,” he said, describing the goal as getting China to double its purchases of U.S. ag production, valued at $25-50 billion.
“I don’t think he’s going to accept a deal that does not enhance agricultural trade with China.”
Perdue deflected a question about potential reparations for agricultural producers harmed by China’s retaliatory tariffs, suggesting that the administration’s goal of stronger markets would better serve U.S. farmers than “a government check.”
In answer to a question specifically about the possibility of a bilateral trade agreement with China, Perdue said that Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney, was in China at that moment and charged with addressing “non-tariff issues.”
When asked by WLJ about the potential for the U.S. to rejoin the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)—the ongoing effort of the remaining 11 countries from the original Trans-Pacific Partnership—Perdue suggested the other trade issues such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation and tariff problems with China were causing a workload problem.
“I’m hopeful that the president will let us look and see how we can redesign or renew our interest in TPP where he feels we could join and have a good deal for the American producer and the American farmer and rancher.”
There have been suggestions from Japan that the U.S. will be invited to join the CPTPP. Recent statements by the president have been mixed regarding rejoining. On April 12, Trump directed Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, and Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative, to negotiate entry into the new agreement.
Less than a week later, however, Trump blasted it and the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Twitter, saying he didn’t like the deal for the U.S. and preferred bilateral deals.
Trade talk updates
There have been several other trade-related activities ongoing lately.
Efforts to renegotiate the NAFTA continued the week of May 7, but by May 17, no firm decisions had been made.
As all three countries in the agreement—Mexico, Canada and the United States—are facing upcoming political elections, negotiators had hoped to finalize the trade pact at this meeting. U.S. Senate Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) had set an informal deadline of May 17 to conclude the talks, which would give U.S. lawmakers a chance to approve it before newly elected members of Congress take office in January.
Technical talks are still going on between officials, but there doesn’t appear to be a formal round or announcement on the horizon.
Earlier, on May 8, 41 member-countries of the WTO signed a letter that obliquely voiced concern over “rising trade tensions” in other WTO member countries. Though never directly referencing the ongoing U.S. and Chinese tariff dispute, the content of the letter and the signatories seem to suggest that was the indirect focus of the effort.
“We encourage WTO members to refrain from taking protectionist measures and to avoid risks of escalation. We call on members to resolve their differences through dialogue and cooperation, including through WTO bodies and, as appropriate, recourse to WTO dispute settlement.” — Kerry Halladay, WLJ editor, with contributions from Rae Price, WLJ editor
