Two of the Trump Administration’s top trade officials attended this week’s Midwest U.S. – Japan Association Conference in Omaha.
Gregg Doud, the chief ag negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, said trade talks with Canada will hopefully wrap up soon, but it’s important to get the deal right.
“Both countries are working very hard,” Doud said. “You know, still obviously things to talk about and get sorted out.”
Ted McKinney, the undersecretary for trade in the U.S.D.A., acknowledged during an interview that Trump’s trade policies are making farm country nervous.
“For sure they’re nervous, there’s no doubt. I’m nervous, for goodness sake,” McKinney said. “If we can move through this, I call it ‘right sizing,’ then I think the pathway on the other side is more smooth. It’s not as bumpy. There’s less turbulence. It’s a brighter, sunshiny day perhaps, but we cannot vacate this now, otherwise we will have lost everything we’ve gained.”
McKinney said the NAFTA re-negotiation “seems like it’s very close” to being completed. McKinney will meet today in Washington with the vice minister of agriculture from China. McKinney, though, cautions that a “free, fair and reciprocal” trade deal with China will take a while to achieve.
(By Ken Anderson of Brownfield Ag News)