A Wild Trade Ride
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy U.S. trade policy has been going through a wild ride recently. The current U.S. administration believes that the existing trade architecture is outdated or constricting, and new forms of leverage are needed to achieve its goals. Meanwhile, they have correctly pointed out that some countries seem to […]
Montana Wheat Farmer Testifies on the Impact of Tariffs on Agriculture and Rural Communities
Overall, U.S. wheat farmers are certain they produce some of the highest quality milling wheat in the world and want to compete on that basis freely and fairly. That desire is being challenged in unique ways right now by trade policies and global reactions that have never been a part of the world wheat market. […]
A Decade Lost: Give Farmers the Freedom to Compete
This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and the Korea-U.S. (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement. These were the last free trade agreements completed by the United States. In the decade since, there has been plenty of negotiating, but nothing to show for it. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is […]
U.S. Wheat Trade: A Farmer’s Perspective
By Gary Baily, Washington Grain Commission Chairman, USW Director and a wheat farmer from St. John, Wash. As Washington Grain Commissioners, trade has consumed a great deal of our time this past year. Relationships with our international partners are critical to the survival of our trade with countries such as Japan. Most of us have […]
Improving the Policy Environment for Agricultural and Food Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region
By Ben Conner, USW Director of Policy With the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), U.S. agriculture groups are looking for other ways to improve trade policy across the Asia-Pacific region. This week, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) joined 86 other food and agriculture organizations in a letter to President Donald Trump highlighting the importance […]
New Trade Policies Generate Some Whiplash
As promised, on the first working day of his presidency, Donald J. Trump fulfilled his campaign promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and gave notice to Mexico and Canada that the United States intends to renegotiate some parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). For decades, U.S. presidents of both parties […]
Welcome Progress on Trans-Pacific Partnership
By submitting the draft “Statement of Administrative Action” (SAA) to the U.S. Congress on Aug. 12, 2016, the U.S. Trade Representative moved one step closer to the final consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The SAA describes actions necessary to implement the provisions of TPP and contains details about how U.S. law would need to […]
Wheat Industry Trade Priorities Included in USTR National Trade Estimate
Last week marked the annual release of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) to Congress by the Offices of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR). The NTE report is a 474-page- list of trade barriers facing U.S. companies and producers. It documents a range of trade barriers, including Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS), technical and market access restrictions. […]
USW Lays Down Policy Priorities for Year Ahead
By Ben Conner, USW Deputy Director of Policy A professor once told me this about achieving goals: “If you don’t write it down, it will never happen.” On behalf of the farmers we represent, USW takes a similar approach to our policy priorities: we write them down for the board to review every year. That […]
Taking a Vote on TPP is Critical to Its Ultimate Success
Representatives from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating countries are set to sign the agreement in New Zealand next week. Though signing the pact is primarily ceremonial, it marks another step forward in the long process of putting the world’s largest free trade agreement into action. In the months since the final agreement announcement, the […]