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Seng says Perdue will be a champion for ag trade

The president and CEO of the US Meat Export Federation says Sonny Perdue’s confirmation to lead the USDA is huge for ag trade.

Phil Seng says agriculture is one of the few industries that has a positive trade balance.  “Sonny Perdue has given us a lot of reason to believe that he is going to continue in that tradition,” he says.  “Extolling the virtues of trade and globalization.  I really sense he understands what trade is all about and what it means to the producer.”

He says Perdue’s confirmation comes at a time when the US ag sector and its key trading partners have raised concerns about the administration’s trade policy.  “There has been a huge era of uncertainty about what is going to be the trade policy and what is going to happen within the department with the envisioned budget cuts in the President’s budget,” he says.  “I think the fact that we’re now going to have a champion, we’re going to have a leader is going to be very, very good from not only the standpoint of defending the USDA budget, but also people overseas will now have someone to appeal to.”

The Senate confirmed Perdue 87 to 11 on Monday.