U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai faces questioning on both sides of Capitol Hill this week amid a growing ag trade deficit that has fueled Republican attacks on President Joe Biden's trade policy ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Tai will appear before the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday and then will return on Wednesday to testify before the Senate Finance Committee.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday will keynote the annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists in Washington. Then, on Tuesday he heads back to the Hill, this time to appear before the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
Other cabinet members who will be testifying this week as lawmakers start work on fiscal 2025 spending bills include Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Labor Secretary Julie Su, who will appear before House Appropriations subcommittees. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf will testify Thursday before the House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee.
Partisan fault lines over trade policy are less clear than they were before the Trump administration, which scrapped the Trans-Pacific Partnership and slapped new tariffs on China and other countries to protect U.S. industries.
The Biden administration has kept in place the Trump tariffs on China and has declined to pursue new tariff-reducing, free trade agreements sought by U.S. ag groups. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is pledging to impose an across-the-board tariff on all U.S. imports and has threatened even stiffer, new duties on China.
In an interview last week with Agri-Pulse, Tai’s chief ag trade negotiator, Doug McKalip, argued that the ag trade deficit is due in part to the strong dollar, which makes imported products relatively less expensive, and the U.S. consumer demand for fruits, vegetables, cocoa and other products that are either not grown in the U.S. or are out of season. Tai is likely to make the same points to lawmakers this week.
The United States traditionally had a healthy surplus in agricultural trade, but the balance has been negative for three of the past five years, and the deficit is projected to reach a record $30.5 billion for fiscal 2024, up from $16.6 billion in FY23.
“Certainly we've got very, very strong exports,” McKalip said. “We also have record low unemployment here in the U.S., so … our folks are buying some things that aren't necessarily displacing a US farmer. So, I think it's important to make sure we keep all of those factors in mind as we look at the overall trade balance.
Meanwhile, the dispute resolution process at the World Trade Organization has been locked up after the Trump administration first refused to support the appointment of new members to the appellate body. Tai has argued that the dispute resolution process has been too focused on litigation as opposed to arbitration and mediation.
Trade policy also will be a subject of discussion during an agricultural and environment conference sponsored Thursday by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. The speakers will include McKalip; Alexis Taylor, USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs; and Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb. McKalip will join Taylor on a USDA trade mission to India next week.
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Trade with China also could come up at least tangentially during Vilsack’s Senate hearing on Tuesday. He has been grilled by Republicans during recent appearances on the Hill about concerns that China is buying up U.S. farmland. Vilsack has cautioned congressional focus on the issue could fuel Chinese retaliation against U.S. ag exports.
The ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy herds also could surface during the hearing. As of Friday, USDA had reported 26 detections of HPAI in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Michigand, Idaho, Ohio, North Carolina and South Dakota.
Here is a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):
Monday, April 15
All day – North American Agricultural Journalists annual meeting, through Tuesday, Washington.
4 p.m. – USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report.
Tuesday, April 16
9:30 a.m. – House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the U.S. Forest Service, 2008 Rayburn.
10 a.m. – House Ways and Means Committee hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, 1100 Longworth.
10 a.m. – Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, 124 Dirksen.
10:15 a.m. – House Natural Resources Committee meeting to consider various bills, including the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act, 1324 Longworth.
Wednesday, April 17
9:30 a.m. – House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Interior Department, 2008 Rayburn.
10 a.m. – House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Labor Department, 2358-C Rayburn.
10 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee hearing with USTR Katherine Tai, 215 Dirksen.
10:30 a.m. – House Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, 2362-B Rayburn.
Thursday, April 18
All day – Biotechnology Innovation Organization agriculture and environment summit, 1717 K Street NW.
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
9 a.m. – House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Food and Drug Administration, 2362-A Rayburn.
Friday, April 19
3 p.m. – USDA releases Cattle on Feed report.
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
