News

Doud, McKinney discuss trade issues at Omaha conference

Two of the United States’ top ag trade officials were in Omaha Monday for the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference.

Gregg Doud, Chief Ag Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s, and Ted McKinney, Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs in the USDA, were speakers at the meeting.

In a follow-up interview with Brownfield, Doud said NAFTA talks with Canada are “a work in progress”.

“Both countries are working very hard—still obviously things to talk about and get sorted out,” Doud said. “I’m going to get back to Washington tonight and try to get started on that here the balance of the week. We’ll see how it goes.”

Doud declined to comment on whether dairy is still the main sticking point in those talks.

For his part, McKinney acknowledged that there is a lot of nervousness in farm country over the administration’s trade policies.

“For sure they’re nervous, there’s no doubt. I’m nervous, for goodness sake,” said McKinney. “If we can move through this—I call it right-sizing—then I think the pathway on the other side is more smooth. It’s not as bumpy. There’s less turbulence. And that’s what we’re going through.

“But we cannot vacate this now. Otherwise we will have lost everything that we’ve gained.”

Both Doud and McKinney described the situation with China as “serious”, saying that nothing will happen until China commits to fixing issues around intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer.

AUDIO: Gregg Doud

 

AUDIO: Ted McKinney