An ag lobbyist says while trade tariffs are a concern for production agriculture, the farmers who support President Trump understand tariffs can be used for better market access.
“But if these tariffs were to stay in place a long time, I think that view might change,” said Randy Russell.
Russell told Brownfield News there’s a growing ag trade deficit and there haven’t been new trade deals in the last few years. But he says new trade deals are one thing and enforcing trade deals are another.
“This time around, whether it’s Canada or China, if the U.S. cuts a deal, we should be watching the enforcement piece. In the end, that’s where we’ve had problems.”
China and Canada have issued retaliatory tariffs on U.S. ag products. President Trump has said that in early April reciprocal tariffs will go into effect on countries that retaliate against the U.S.
Russell says it’s unclear how the Trump administration will calculate reciprocal tariffs and whether there will be exclusions.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Randy Russell is one of the top ag lobbyists in Washington, D.C. He has been part of the D.C. scene for decades and knows ag policy and politics inside out. He makes an excellent point regarding enforcement of trade deals, whether negotiated or tariffs. If they do not have proper oversight, then they become perfunctory. In fact, one of the issues in our nation’s capital these days is how much oversight is needed. For many years there was little or none. Now we are playing catch up and trying to reign in the beast. Congress and the administration would do well to heed Randy Russell’s warning.
Likewise, do you have a proper strategy in place to monitor your success with farmers and ranchers? Are your people properly trained in CAD programs and how to integrate them into sales, service and parts? When was the last time you checked to see how many AgPack® redemptions were claimed in the past month, six months or a year? Are you signed up in the proper level to sell AGwagon? Who is responsible for answering these and many other questions that help determine your success or failure with the CAD program?
