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Farmers bring their message to USTR

Farmers and farm organizations told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai what trade issues are important to them.

A.V. Roth with the National Pork Producers Council wants Tai to maintain favorable trade status with Vietnam and the Philippines. “Over the last few years, they had lowered the tariff there in Vietnam, and we’ve doubled our exports from the U.S. and we want to keep that low.”

Roth says the USMCA was also good for U.S. pork producers.

Tony Mellenthin with the Wisconsin Soybean Board says U.S. growers can help the administration and soybean buyers meet climate goals. “If the poultry farmers in Holland were to import specifically U.S. soybeans versus South American soybeans, they would lower their carbon footprint of their entire operation by 47%, and that just speaks volumes to how the American soybean farmer grows their soybeans.”

Joe Bragger with Wisconsin Farm Bureau says his message to Ambassador Tai is focused on dairy trade, and with only ten cents more getting to farmers for every percent of the increase in exports, she should focus on barriers to high-value items like cheese. “Geographic indicators can be a real impediment to that, because if we’re going to try and get beyond that ten cents that we’re actually capturing at the farm gate, we’re going to have to get more value on the front end.”

The farm leaders participated in a discussion Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Congressman Ron Kind at a Wisconsin organic dairy farm Friday.

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