Many stakeholders in U.S. agriculture are pushing for more overseas trade opportunities. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) is one of those stakeholders who says it’s time to open up more markets for American commodities.
Speaking last week on Agriculture of America (AOA), Ernst said, “We know that access to foreign markets will impact the price of corn, our soybeans, our beef, poultry, and our pork, and I am a huge advocate for reducing these trade barriers for U.S. products in markets abroad. We have seen President Biden fail to prioritize trade, and because of that, we’re seeing record deficits.”
She’s unhappy that the U.S. ag trade deficit has grown so large. Ernst said, “What we have seen coming out of Tom Vilsack’s U.S. Department of Agriculture is a projected 30-and-a-half billion-dollar agricultural trade deficit for our fiscal year 2024. That is unheard of, and this should not be happening. So, it tells me President Biden and his U.S. Trade Rep Katherine Tai, as well as Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack, they need to step up their game.”
Past discussions on ag trade haven’t spurred any progress toward improving the situation according to Ernst. She said, “Now, anytime I’ve talked to Katherine Tai about trade, in particular, it’s always about ag trade, she will always just respond, ‘Oh, well, we’ll take a look at that.’ I never get follow-up, and I know they’re not taking a look at it, because she said in a public statement last year that there would be no new trade deals during the first Biden administration.”
