As part of its focus on the 2012 Farm Bill the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing on trade Wednesday. In her opening comments, Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said American farmers and ranchers tell her every day that we must continue to look for other ways to grow our exports. Her immediate response is that we don't have to look any further than 90 miles south of our own border at Cuba. According to Lincoln, relaxing trade restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba represents a tremendous opportunity to grow our economy.
The Senator also pointed to the need to increase exports by pursuing more free trade agreements. She said the first steps along that road must be to expeditiously consider the three pending FTAs negotiated more than three years ago with South Korea, Colombia and Panama and put them into effect. Lincoln added that the pending agreements are broadly supported by U.S. agriculture and could add up to several billion dollars to overall U.S. agricultural exports.
Ranking Committee Member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said U.S. agriculture exports remain one of the few bright spots in the domestic economy, with a balance of trade totaling almost $27 billion last year. However, Chambliss added that in order to increase agriculture exports the Administration must do more than pay lip service to initiatives that lull us into a false sense of action. Chambliss charged that President Obama continues to sit on the South Korea, Colombia and Panama Free Trade Agreements that would provide tangible gains for the agriculture sector in the United States.
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