Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays spoke with National Cattlemen’s Association executive director of government affairs Kent Bacus about trade tariffs.
President Trump has imposed tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico- and the administration is interacting with them in an effort to resolve the concerns the President has- especially in reducing or eliminating the flow of fentanyl into the US.
During his first term in office, Trump’s use of tariffs did result in good things for agriculture. “For the last four years, we have essentially had a dormant trade policy,” Bacus said of the actions of the former Biden administration. “We weren’t talking about opening markets and other things, and it’s been very frustrating as someone who actively works on trade and trying to open new opportunities for cattle producers.”
He described the new Trump administration as one that wants to move quickly to address the issues that have plagued Americans for the past few years. He added that it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Trump uses tariffs as a tool because he used them very strategically and effectively during his first presidency to bring China to the table.
“We had been out of that market for thirteen years, and it was President Trump taking an aggressive position with them that got us back into that market,” Bacus recalled. “We saw the same things with Japan. We saw, obviously, a lot of improvements to the U.S./Mexico/Canada Agreement (USMCA). We resolved some pretty big issues with the Europeans that previous administrations just hadn’t been able to do, so it may make people uncomfortable and cause a bit of uncertainty, but in that uncertainty is opportunity.”
According to Bacus, the USMCA could use some updates, as Mexico and Canada have not fulfilled their commitments under the agreement.
“Mexico has really walked back from that robust sanitary and phytosanitary agreement that we have, and those commitments,” he pointed out. “The fact that they want to restrict GMO corn and a lot of other things for political purposes are signs that they have not lived up to their commitments.”
He noted that Canada always tries to protect their dairy market by doubling down on supply management. “It looks like they have skuttled that bill to codify that government-run dairy program that they have,” he explained. “It is heavily subsidized and punitive. Those are just a couple of examples. There are a lot of other things on the agricultural side and in the broader sphere that show that Canada and Mexico still have things that they need to make right as far as the USMCA.”
Bacus agrees that the U.S. needs good trade partners in North America and a trade agreement that represents today’s needs. Updating the USMCA is, as it should be, a priority for the current administration.
“It is definitely something that NCBA and cattlemen are going to watch very closely because, not only do we need the rest of the agreement to improve, but we need to protect those provisions that have made us so successful here in North America,” Bacus stated. “That is the unrestricted trade we have with Canada and Mexico. We have a highly integrative, robust supply chains, but we are the dominant producers and we are the beneficiaries from this, and we’ve got to continue that.”
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