Earlier in the week President George Bush swore in new U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. In his speech, Bush outlined an aggressive trade agenda with three main priorities in the months ahead: passage of the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, continue Doha world trade negotiations and ensure trade agreements are living up to their terms.
Bush met with key agriculture industry leaders on Wednesday where he outlined his trade agenda for the coming months. National Cattlemen's Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Truitt says cattlemen should be pleased with the President's commitment to trade.
"Obviously, it is taking us longer than expected to reopen some of our key export markets," says Truitt. "But the President assured us that he's willing to put the full weight of the White House behind his trade agenda, and that agenda includes trade policies that will be very beneficial to cattlemen."
CAFTA top priority
A top priority for the President is CAFTA and he says he hopes the agreement will see passage in Congress this summer. Administration officials including Portman, Commerce Secretary Gutierrez, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove expressed their desire to see CAFTA passed in the House before the Fourth of July recess.
According to media reports, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says he intends to schedule a mock markup of the legislation the second week in June and that the agreement should reach the Senate floor in July.
Last week Bush met with the six presidents from the CAFTA nations. Bush contends that the agreement will do four things:
- It will level the playing field for American farmers and businesses.
- It will help our economy.
- It will make the region more competitive with Asia.
- And it will strengthen democracy in our backyard.
Bush says, as CAFTA opens the Western Hemisphere markets, CAFTA will also bring the stability and security that can only come from freedom. "These are small nations, but they are making big and brave commitments, and America needs to continue to support them as they walk down the road of openness and accountability," Bush says. "By transforming our hemisphere into a powerful free trade area, we will promote democratic governance and human rights and the economic liberty for everyone."
If the United States is unable to approve CAFTA, it may hamper Bush's second trade priority--advancement of the Doha Development Agenda now being pursued by the World Trade Organization. Bush says this new framework is the largest negotiation of its kind in history, and it would reduce and eliminate tariffs in key industry sectors, and unfair agricultural subsidies, and open the global market in services.
Keeping China accountable
During Portman's Senate confirmation hearing, he promised to evaluate China's trade with the United States. In his swearing in speech for Portman, Bush said the Administration would work to ensure that those who sign trade agreements live up to their terms. Although exports have increased 81% since China's entry into the WTO, the U.S. continues to run a trade deficit with China.
"We face a trade deficit that is too high, in part because the Chinese do not always play by the rules," Portman says. "I have already begun a top-to-bottom review of China trade issues, and I will work closely with Congress to see that American workers, farmers and businesses are treated fairly."
Harkin Calls for Action Against China Corn Export Subsidies
This week in letters to Portman and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, urged action in response to reports China is illegally subsidizing corn exports to gain access to foreign markets.
Reportedly China has been using tax incentives, which violates commitments the country made when it joined the WTO, in order to export corn to countries that traditionally have bought grain from American farmers. Harkin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, asked for an investigation into the matter and, pending findings of the investigation, that the United States file a case before the WTO against China.
Some of the Asian markets now buying corn from China have purchased substantial amounts of U.S. agricultural exports in the past. As exports from China have recently surged, America's corn exports to South Korea have fallen by half in the first two months of 2005 compared to 2004.