While speaking at the Farm Progress Show, agriculture secretary offers optimism amid farmer anxiety.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue visited the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill., on Wednesday and offered a renewed sense of optimism on the trade front, the most commonly talked about issue he discusses while traveling the countryside.
Although he was not able to offer additional details regarding the agreement in principle with Japan reached over the weekend, he said, “I think it’s going to be really good for our animal sector and agriculture in general.”
He added that it should help make up for missed opportunities from the U.S. exiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). “There may be a few sectors who don’t feel like they got back to the finish line” regarding what was included in TPP, Perdue said, but he added that most of the agriculture-specific details with Japan should be equal to, if not better than, what was offered under TPP, especially for livestock and wheat producers.
“We think it’ll be a well-received agreement,” Perdue said in a presser following his talk to farmers.
President Donald Trump also called Perdue while Perdue was on stage with Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson. Trump similarly touted the Japan deal and said he hopes it will allow U.S. producers to sell more of their products.
China angst
While on the phone, Trump again expressed his love for farmers and ranchers and defended his hard stance with China. He acknowledged that he could make a quick deal and be a hero, “or I could do it the right way and do it the way we’re doing it now,” Trump said of taking more time to get China to change its actions.
During the press conference, Perdue said Trump would love to close a deal with China and noted that the deal was nearly 90% completed in April. “The ball is in China’s court,” Perdue said, adding that China has its own political divisions as well.
“If the goal is to wait [Trump] out, I think they’ve got a long time to wait,” Perdue said.
USMCA passage
Perdue also expressed optimism and support for passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). He said he truly believes that speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Cal.) wants to get a deal done. Perdue recognizes that she has a challenge in educating her newer members and helping them feel comfortable with where things are on enforceability and other issues to do with labor and the environment.
“From what I hear from her members, many of her members are supportive; they just don’t want to get out in front of her,” Perdue said of Pelosi’s timeline on bringing up a vote on the North American trade pact.
He said he does not like to think about what would happen if Congress fails to act on USMCA. “The world is watching,” Perdue said, regarding whether the U.S. can make a deal with its closest neighbors before other countries step out and try to do the same.
Ethanol waivers
Perdue additionally fielded questions regarding the 31 small refinery waivers the Environmental Protection Agency issued earlier in August. He called the announcement a “Friday afternoon bomb” and said it was “unfortunate.”
He said one of the most important ways to make up for the lost ethanol demand is to allow E15 use at E10 pumps, which the President has authorized, and the agencies are just working through those processes. Perdue said he’s confident that consumers will choose E15, which has a higher octane and offers an additional 3-5 cents/gal. discount.
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