President Trump — The Dealmaker on Trade
As the change in leadership in Washington ushers in a new cast of characters, all eyes fall on the incoming president. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump made many comments about being tough on trade, emphasizing the need to negotiate better trade deals that create American jobs. He supported withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He stressed strongly that enforcing trade deals would be a priority and indicated he would ask his secretary of commerce to identify every violation of any trade agreement by our foreign trading partners. His platform included telling North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners that we intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers.
For potato growers, free trade agreements have reduced tariffs imposed on U.S. potato exports by foreign trading partners and, as a result, our exports have grown. Today, one in five potatoes produced in the U.S. is exported. Under TPP, Vietnam’s tariffs of 18 to 24 percent on processed potatoes would be eliminated. U.S. exports of frozen french fries to Vietnam would triple in five years, according to NPC’s estimates, which were submitted to the International Trade Commission. The president can bring the TPP countries back to the table to fix the items he views as deficient and move forward with a rebranded “Trump TPP.”
In the 21 years since NAFTA’s implementation, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have more than quadrupled, growing from $8.9 billion to $38.6 billion. It’s hard to see how losing those benefits would be good for the potato industry. Improving NAFTA or other trade deals makes infinite sense. Walking away from opportunities to lower tariffs on U.S. potato exports and reduce non-tariff barriers to trade is a losing proposition. Being a tough negotiator and obtaining good trade agreements has the National Potato Council’s support.
Obviously, we should never recommend signing a trade deal that is not good for our economy. But we must be at the table negotiating good trade deals, or we will lose international potato markets to our competitors. For NAFTA, it may very well be time to modernize that agreement and renegotiate for a better deal. This is something President Trump could be well suited to do. We must not close off trade, though, because isolationist policies will not help agriculture succeed or contribute to feeding the world.
President Trump has been acknowledged by many as a great deal maker. In fact, his book “The Art of the Deal” sold more than 1 million hardcover copies and was a New York Times bestseller for 13 weeks. It is the sincere hope of the potato industry that he will lead a team of trade negotiators that will negotiate great trade deals to benefit agriculture and other key economic sectors. We want to see that deal-making skill in action at the negotiating table, not sitting on the sidelines. And after that is done, strong enforcement of foreign commitments made in those deals will garner our applause as well. So, Mr. President, let the negotiations begin.
