Articles by Bill Tomson

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2017 - A lot of work to support agricultural trade got done during the second round of negotiations to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement last week in Mexico City, but those talks are expected to be tame compared to what’s to come in Ottawa and beyond as the negotiations build steam.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2017 - The U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, known commonly as KORUS, has been a target of criticism from the White House for months, but the fact that the two countries are still talking about how to improve the pact has the U.S. ag community hoping it will survive.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2017 - China finally signed off on the sanitary and phytosanitary protocols to open its market to U.S. rice in July, but now America's farmers, millers and shippers are again waiting on the Chinese to finish the bureaucratic process that will allow exports to begin flowing.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2017 - Harvey is still wreaking havoc after slamming into the Texas coast Friday as a Category 4 hurricane with deadly 135 mph winds. Now a tropical storm, Harvey continues to drop massive amounts of rain – in some areas more than 4 feet has fallen – on vulnerable livestock and unharvested crops, while blowing cotton modules off farms.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2017 – Discounting President Donald Trump’s repeated negative comments – whether in speeches or tweets – the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement is moving quickly, positively and without animosity, according to ag sector and government sources.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2017 -- President Trump's latest threat to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA is causing some jitters in the U.S. ag sector. But are they real or just a negotiating ploy?