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NASDA: New trade agreements could open the door for U.S. farmers

The CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture says the Trump administration needs to prioritize maintaining current and finalizing new trade deals.

Ted McKinney, the former Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the USDA, says the path to fair trade has been a bumpy ride.

“We’re in that deep and sometimes very difficult negotiation phase,” he says. “Let’s make the fixes on both sides. This is not just a U.S. deal. There may be painful problems that exist in another country, so we should be dealing with it both ways.”

He tells Brownfield establishing new trade deals could help expand market access for U.S. farmers.

“El Salvador and Guatemala,” he says. “Those are smaller countries. I think the UK is on the cusp of completion, along with the EU. We saw a recent announcement about India. It looks like those are being brought to fruition.”

McKinney says the competition of new trade deals could better position the industry for years to come.

AUDIO: Ted McKinney, NASDA