I’m doing a short keynote on January 20 from 4:30-6:15 PST (7:30-9:15 EST). The conference website is here. The schedule for the conference is here. Information about my session is here.
What’s up with trade in agriculture?
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue says this about our new “trade breakthrough” with China:
This is tremendous news for the American beef industry, the agriculture community, and the U.S. economy in general. We will once again have access to the enormous Chinese market, with a strong and growing middle class, which had been closed to our ranchers for a long, long time. .. When the Chinese people taste our high-quality U.S. beef, there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll want more of it.”
Why “breakthrough”? China refused to buy US beef after a case of mad cow disease turned up.
The point of US trade policy is to have open markets for our products. USDA has a quick summary of our current balance of trade. We are doing pretty well with it.
And here’s why:
Hence: Selling beef to China should up those numbers.