American Farm Bureau Federation on Trade Pt 1

American Farm Bureau Federation on Trade Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Some may say progress on the pending trade deals with other countries is glacial. But some don’t have much of a problem with that as long as they get done and are better than what we had before.

That said, American Farm Bureau Federation Vice President Scott VanderWal says sooner would be better on the USMCA …

VanderWal … “We are putting on a full-court press to try to get Congress to get that finished up before the end of the year here. If we get passed the end of the year, into the election season, that’s not a good thing and we don’t want to go without an agreement.”

But, VanderWal says he’s got reason to believe things will work out …

VanderWal … “Yeah, we’re optimistic. Some people say that there’s less than a 50-50 chance of getting it done, but I did see a quote from Representative Peterson, House Ag Committee Chairman, a couple of days ago that he believes that the Speaker’s goal is to have it done by the end of the year. And, we think she’s trying. There’s some political considerations there, but if she can get some of the troops in line, we believe the votes are there and it’s really a nonpartisan thing. We should be able to have a nonpartisan vote in Congress and do the right thing and show that they can still work together.”

All of the distractions taking away from the business of Congress right now, VanderWal says have got to be set aside …

VanderWal … “There’s so many things going on and it’s such a partisan, bitter situation out there, but this is an opportunity for them to show that they can work together and do something that’s right for the country regardless of politics right now.”

Listen tomorrow for VanderWal’s take on the likelihood of other trade deals getting accomplished.

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