WASHINGTON D.C. (RFD-TV) — the White House says four new pacts with several South American nations are coming soon. The deals include El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Argentina, which have been at the center of debate for some time. If approved, the deal with Argentina would allow them to import more U.S. cattle and give them preferential market access in areas such as meat and dairy. It also lifts their 10 percent reciprocal tariff rate.
The deals also address non-tariff barriers, such as streamlining import licensing. White House officials say each of these is in the framework stage right now, but they expect something to be signed within the next two weeks.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has blamed tariffs and non-tariff barriers for ‘unfair’ trade: “We only charge a 2.5 percent tariff on ethanol, but Brazil charges us an 18 percent tariff,” Greer said. “The result: we have a large trade deficit in ethanol with Brazil. Our average tariff on agricultural goods is five percent, but India’s average tariff is 39 percent. Last year, I think we imported about three billion dollars’ worth of Australian beef, and we exported zero dollars of American beef to Australia.”
Farm Bureau Economist Faith Parum also agreed with Greer on the domino effect of particularly non-tariff trade barriers, applauding the move in recent trade deals with smaller South Asian countries and the inroads they make for U.S. farmers and ranchers.
Non-tariff barriers really hit farmers directly,” Parum told RFD-TV News. “They can cause delays in shipping. When you’re talking about fresh produce or goods that can’t stay for very long when they’re held up in ports or held up on ships, that can really greatly reduce the value of those goods. That really directly impacts farmers. On top of that, we’ve seen just reduced market access due to non-scientific barriers — different meat standards, different labeling standards, that aren’t based on the science — and so, anytime we can reduce those non-tariff barriers, it really does help our U.S. farmers and ranchers.”
The White House also announced that some deals to lower import tariffs on goods that will help reduce consumer grocery prices are also in the works. The first of those to come through is with Switzerland. The deal specifically targeted reduced tariffs on imports of pharmaceuticals, gold watches, and chocolate.
Swiss imports will now face a 15 percent import tariff. Previously, the Trump Administration had levied 39 percent tariffs on goods from Europe’s “Land of Milk and Honey,” the highest among developed nations, according to Axios.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC that in return, Swiss officials pledged to “send a lot of their manufacturing here to the United States — pharmaceutical, gold smelting, railway equipment.”
