WASHINGTON D.C. – Nebraska’s 3rd district Congressman Adrian Smith discussed trade deals with China and the current agreements the United States has in place and the results that have been produced.
“China, make no mistake, they’re difficult to work with. In realizing they want their people to eat and want to find a good deal on importing food, we’re happy to help them do that. It’s about teamwork and a team effort.
When you look at USMCA, the trade agreement passed late last year. The fact it got done and renegotiating NAFTA, something a lot of folks said couldn’t be done.
President Trump led the way in probably the most bipartisan trade result in the history of trade agreements.”
Improving trade with China and other countries that want to do business is still a work in progress.
“I would say it’s still a work in progress because some tariffs are still in place. So the fact that we’ve been able to ship more products reflects good news.
There has been such an unlevel playing field in trade from our perspective that we’re seeing a leveling.
There is still work to be done but this is good news to see ag exports are up 11%.”
Food production in China has taken a hit and the country is turning to the United States for help.
“I think they want a steady source of food for their people. They have had problems with the African Swine Fever.
China has had significant domestic production in pork for some time but this fever has been disruptive and they’ve lost a lot of animals through that.
The efficiency of our system has been able to help them considerably. Obviously Chinese citizens want affordable and accessible food and we can help them out.”
More from Adrian Smith as he looked into the impact on farmers, ranchers and consumers.
