Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior member and former chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Agriculture Committee, today met with Peter Navarro, a top trade advisor for President Trump, and several fellow committee members, to discuss the Administration’s priorities on trade. The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over trade. Grassley made the following comment on the meeting.
“I pointed out that U.S. agriculture is often the first target when countries retaliate against the United States on trade. Just today, there were headlines about plans for a bill in Mexico directing Mexico to stop buying American corn in favor of corn from Brazil and Argentina. This is reported to be in response to Administration policies. All of us looking at new trade deals or renegotiating prior trade deals need to have our eyes open and consider that U.S. agriculture is generally a major exporter. Anything that restricts export markets for U.S. farm products very likely means lost income for Iowa farmers and ag workers. It’s also important to remember that it’s not just multilateral agreements like the Transpacific Partnership Agreement that need congressional approval. Bilateral agreements have to go through Congress, too. If the President can negotiate better deals for the United States, I’m all for it, but I don’t want to see anything that hurts major sectors of the economy, like agriculture.”
-30-