U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today secured commitments from Jamieson Greer, President Trump’s nominee to be the United States Trade Representative (USTR), to protect Montana trade and agriculture by expanding market access and ensuring a fair playing field for farmers, ranchers, small businesses and manufacturers.
Watch Daines and Greer’s full exchange HERE.
Daines: “Mr. Greer, it’s good to see you here again. Thank you for your commitment to service. You’ve seen really the history of your life as one of serving our country. I’m grateful to you and your family in that regard. President Trump has certainly laid out an ambitious trade agenda. He’s taken serious action this week to secure American interests. I share his view that the United States should use every tool at our disposal to secure our borders, to stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities and to open new markets around the globe. I applaud the quick work done by President Trump to ensure that Mexico and Canada are doing their part. It’s important to note the previous blanket tariff policies for steel and for aluminum had serious effects on a wide range of my constituents in Montana. Agriculture is our number one economic driver in Montana. In some cases the price of aluminum in the United States rose 15 percent which increased costs for manufacturers, which was ultimately passed on to consumers, like farmers buying heavy equipment. It’s equally important that we protect American farmers, American ranchers, small businesses and manufacturers by moving quickly to open up new markets in the face of retaliation.”
Daines asked Greer about protecting market access for Montana producers:
Daines: The threat of retaliatory tariffs on Montana, commodities like wheat, barley, beet sugar, pulse crops still looms as negotiations continue with Canada and Mexico. As I chat with my farmers back home, input costs remain very high. Farmers and ranchers are facing razor thin margins. In many cases now, negative margins. The future costs of important inputs like fertilizer as well as energy remains uncertain. Mr. Greer if confirmed, will you prioritize swift and immediate action to secure new market access for Montana producers who are now facing the threats of retaliatory tariffs.
Greer: …I think it is safe to say that the president has a bias for action, and I am going to do my best to keep up with him so I can open up the markets, so I can report back to him if I’m confirmed…that we’re opening markets, we’re giving Montana cattle ranchers and other farmers and growers opportunities in a lot of markets to expand their market access, and to give them better growth from year to year.
Daines and Greer also discussed China’s influence in trade and the need to put Montana producers first:
Daines: It’s not lost on us that 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States. There’s a lot of mouths to feed outside the United States and great opportunity as we think about the future of farming and ranching in Montana. A lot of that will depend on access to the 95 percent of consumers who live outside the United States. The Biden administration, sadly, and I remember having these confirmation hearings with the former USTR, they pursued a very unambitious trade agenda that created a vacuum and allowed countries to fill the void left because of our absence. While they were asleep at the wheel, other countries were negotiating trade agreements that resulted in America falling behind. From beef exports to China, wheat to Japan, pulse crops to India, Montana ag has benefited greatly from some of these trade agreements in the Pacific. I remember being in China working with the Chinese leadership to remove a 14 -year ban on U.S. beef imports. It’s now one of the largest beef markets in the world. We must not forget, despite all the challenges we face with China today, that it is the second largest consumer market in the world. There’s a lot of opportunity for growth for our ag producers to get access to that important market. We must continue to engage our farmers and ranchers on equal footing with the rest of the world. My final question, Mr. Greer, how will you ensure that China honors its commitments from that phase one trade deal? In fact, Senator Perdue then and myself went to Beijing, sat across the table from Liu He back in late 2019 to complete that phase one deal for President Trump. But how do we make sure those commitments made in that phase one deal for U.S. ag products increase access to that important market and again ensure that our producers are on a level playing field?
Greer: So Senator, in the President’s trade policy memorandum that he issued two weeks ago, he directed the United States Trade Representative to review China’s compliance or non -compliance with the phase one trade agreement. There are mechanisms within that agreement, dispute settlement mechanisms, bilateral between the United States and China to address failures of compliance. So if I were confirmed, I would expect to very quickly assess the results of that compliance review and very quickly go about enforcing compliance. I think it is of critical importance that if China wants to trade with the United States and have a healthy economic relationship, if that’s possible, that a lot of it is going to be premised on fair market access for our exporters and producers.
Daines: If confirmed, Mr. Greer, I think we will have a very good team in working with you, with working, if confirmed, with Senator Perdue, soon to be Ambassador David Perdue to China, working together here in making some tremendous progress and getting access to that very important, very large market for producers. Thank you.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Rachel Dumke