U.S. Wheat Industry Encourages Discussion on Border Issues with Canada
By Elizabeth Westendorf, USW Policy Specialist Two weeks ago, government officials from Canada and the United States met for the biannual Consultative Committee on Agriculture — a committee designed to facilitate cross border trade flows and cooperation. In preparation for this meeting, USW sent a letter to the USDA highlighting the need for Canada to […]
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 […]
WTO Takes a Few Steps Forward in Agricultural Trade Negotiations
While achieving progress in multilateral trade negotiations among World Trade Organization (WTO) members is often frustrating, USW sees some steps in the right direction in the recent agreement at the WTO Nairobi Ministerial meeting held in mid-December — despite some setbacks. USW is particularly pleased to see the elimination of export subsidies, which rank high […]