Many farmers are already busy taking in crops as dry conditions have encouraged an early start to the harvest season. Financially speaking, farming is a high-risk venture. The impact of unpredictable weather patterns underscores the importance of doing everything we can to maximize market access and stability for our agriculture industry. Alongside securing sound crop insurance provisions in ongoing Farm Bill renewal discussions, ensuring American trade policy reflects the best interests of our hard-working producers is critical in our pursuit of economic strength.
In order to prosper, producers must be empowered with opportunities provided through a strong, strategic trade agenda. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, 81 percent of the 1,850 companies exporting goods from Nebraska in 2020 were small- and medium-sized enterprises. Nebraska exported $8 billion in goods to foreign markets in 2021, and international trade supports 255,600– or nearly 20 percent – of all jobs in the state. This includes more than just agriculture products. Not to be overlooked, a large component of Third District output includes manufacturing. For instance, Grand Island’s state-of-the-art Case New Holland factory exports approximately 35 percent of its production to 40 countries around the world.
The critical importance of U.S. trade leadership makes inaction by the Biden administration all the more disappointing. The U.S. is in danger of being left behind by our global competitors because the administration is opting for non-binding “frameworks” and “dialogues” over traditional trade agreements. The Trump-negotiated United States-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) was a huge win for trade and now represents the global gold standard for trade agreements. This is in part because of the enforceability of such agreements – something notably missing from any framework or dialogue. Without these enforcement provisions, we would not be able to combat Mexico’s unscientific ban on U.S. grown corn.
As the number one market for both U.S. and Nebraska grown corn, resolving this dispute with Mexico is essential for long-term economic growth of our countries. Yet, despite my calls for his input, the Biden administration has been slow to utilize the dispute resolution mechanism, and the president himself has been silent on the issue. A simple message saying what the Mexican government is doing is wrong could be sent from a podium anywhere and would show support for our growers who depend on this market access.
With the administration asleep at the wheel on trade, Congress must step up. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution designates the “power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises…[and] to regulate commerce with foreign nations” under the purview of the Legislative Branch. There are many opportunities for Congress to reassert this authority over trade matters. In my role as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Trade, I am committed to doing what is necessary to ensure the United States succeeds and leads in the 21st century.
This week, I led a Trade Subcommittee hearing on the opportunity to reauthorize and modernize the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a key trade program which benefits all Americans by promoting stability and economic growth in developing countries while providing a tool for the U.S. to level the playing field.
Done strategically, GSP can bring savings amid high inflation to those who need it most through lowered tariffs. This strengthens the U.S. manufacturing industry, and our supply chains in general. GSP alone won’t be the answer to all our supply chain challenges, but it certainly can be a helpful tool.
Another key trade preference program in our arsenal that has expired is the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). MTB is another important tool many job creators and consumers rely on, and I look forward to getting both these programs on a path to swift renewal.
We can come together on a bipartisan basis and break the logjam that has held back GSP and MTB renewal since they expired at the end of 2020. I am confident we can do the hard work necessary to reform and renew these beneficial programs and restore robust U.S. leadership on trade. American producers and small businesses are counting on it.