American Farm Bureau policy experts talked trade during a workshop at the organization’s 100th annual convention.
Farm Bureau will be keeping an eye on a lot of things this year when it comes to trade.
Dave Salmonsen is the organization’s senior director of congressional relations.
He says the diverse impact of tariffs, the outcomes of free trade agreement negotiations, and the future relationship between the U.S. and China are all factors critical to growing exports in the future.
Salmonsen talked about the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement and said the ratification process “could be quick or it could be slow, but there’s a timeline that has to be followed.”
Salmonsen said the U.S. has also begun trade negotiations with Japan, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
Trade negotiations between the U.S. and China are still ongoing.
Farm Bureau economist and director of congressional relations Veronica Nigh was also on stage and talked about the economic impact of trade and tariffs.
“95 percent of the world’s population is outside the U.S., so export markets are always our best opportunity for growth,” Nigh says.
Overall, 20 percent of U.S. agricultural products are exported.
