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Ag groups call for nomination of Trevino as Chief Ag Negotiator

A coalition of 170 U.S. food and ag groups are urging the quick confirmation of Elaine Trevino as Chief Ag Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode says there was a lot of enthusiasm in the ag industry when the nomination was announced.

“She is smart, she has the background and perspective to be a real impact player in trade and we desperately need that,” he says.

He tells Brownfield there are several key ag and trade policy issues that Trevino can help address.

“Speaking for the Corn Refiners Association, we feel that we had a troubled implementation of USMCA and particularly with some issues with Mexico. We were delighted by yesterday’s meeting between U.S. Ag Secretary Vilsack and Mexican Ag Minister Villalobos. We believe there are very strong abled leaders working on this for both countries so that’s promising but is still a challenge,” he says. “And, we’re eager to have greater stability and be more purposeful in our dealings with China and I also would say we need to move past having those tariffs or at least have them in a more targeted way because they’re hurting our economy.”  

Bode says new trade agreements are also top of mind.

“We need for this administration to get trade promotion authority and set out to establish new trade agreements because if we don’t have new trade agreements, we are falling back day by day as other countries reach new trade agreements and take markets away from us,” he says. “Our dealings in the Asian market are critical. We had a bipartisan blunder in trade policy when we walked away from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) so there needs to be reconsideration of engaging what’s now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTTT) so that we are stepping in as a real player in Asian trade.”

The ag groups are urging the Senate Finance Committee to advance Trevino’s nomination as soon as possible.

In addition to her current position as head of the Almond Alliance of California, she has served as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture for California and is a member of USDA’s Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee.

The letter was signed by CRA, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Feed Industry Association, American Seed Trade Association, American Soybean Association, Bayer US, CoBank, Farmers for Free Trade, International Dairy Foods Association, Milk Producers Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Grain and Feed Association, National Pork Producers Council, North American Meat Institute, United Egg Producers, United States Meat Export Federation, and more.

Audio: John Bode