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Ag Secretary Perdue hones in on trade issues during town hall: Flanked by four California Congressmen – Reps. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), TJ Cox (D-Fresno), Josh Harder (D-Turlock), and Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue received an earful on the state of American farmers in Los Banos on Friday.
In questioning Perdue, Blue Diamond Growers board member Kent Stenderup of Arvin went straight for brass tacks.
“The President said he would take care of us and help us. we supported the president and his motives,” Stenderup said. “But it’s worse than it was a year ago.”
Perdue said that the Trump administration made great strides in its trade negotiations with China only to see the Chinese renege on its commitments that otherwise would have been "wonderful for agriculture."
Unanimous support, ambivalent realities on NAFTA replacement: Beyond trade wars with China, considerable focus was placed on the replacement for NAFTA. During the forum, all four Congressmen in attendance voiced unanimous support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The real issue is whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring the trade pact to the floor for a vote.
Turlock's Harder lamented the fact that the benefits USMCA provides for agriculture is being overshadowed by issues related to pharmaceuticals and environmental rules. Pelosi indicated last Thursday that she wanted "surgical" changes to the pact in relation to those issues.
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