Farm Bureau President Zipply Duvall is calling on U.S. officials to broker more trade deals, and it comes on the heels of a growing ag trade deficit.
The ag trade deficit is set to hit a new record next year, and the industry is anxious to bridge that gap. Duvall says there have been a few trade deals over the last decade, but not enough. He says U.S. farmers are getting priced out of competition by countries with fewer trade barriers. Duvall says strong ag trade is vital for food security, and farmers are relying on trade leaders to take action.
NCBA also wants action on trade, but says the current Administration is taking a less than ideal approach.
“They’re trying to focus on non-tariff trade barriers, technical areas, which those are important. We’ve seen significant gains in other markets when we were able to address those non-tariff barriers in a broader comprehensive trade agreement, but without market access on the table, it’s been very difficult to get other trade partners to come to the table and have those discussions. So we’re not expecting a lot of action out of the Administration in this last part of 2024,” said Kent Bacus.
Bacus says it will take an entire government approach to fix the problem. USDA economists say trade issues stem from low crop prices, a slowing Chinese economy, and the strength of the U.S. dollar.
