July 7, 2000

Trade is crucial to agriculture

We are in an important time in the history of our nation, when we are making some critical decisions about what kind of policy we are to have with regard to trade. It is a debate that has been difficult, sometimes bordering on outright anger.

There are strong feelings on both sides regarding trade. I am reminded of what the British statesman and writer Thomas B. Macaulay said nearly 150 years ago: “Free trade, one of the greatest blessings which a government can confer on a people, is in almost every country unpopular.” His words ring true today.

To be sure, free trade is a notion that is unpopular with some, but from agriculture’s perspective, free trade is crucial.

Texas Farm Bureau has recently been involved in two trade issues that will have much to do with agriculture’s future success. One is Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. As a member of the World Trade Organization, the United States already follows certain rules that open our borders to products from other lands, including China.

China would like to join the WTO, too. As a result, they must open their borders in a similar manner. By granting PNTR, the U.S. would pave the way for China’s entry into WTO and gain freer access to the huge China market without giving up a lot in return. Currently, we review China’s trade status each year, a situation that is not acceptable to the Chinese.

Failure to grant PNTR would inevitably mean the loss of the Chinese market to our competitors around the world.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed PNTR. It is now on its way through the Senate. Texas farmers and ranchers are watching the progress. There are no guarantees regarding trade. Many factors impact it. The only certain thing is that we close the Chinese market to our own products if we fail to pass it.

Cuba is another situation that concerns U.S. farmer and ranchers. Currently a billion dollar market, Cuba is expanding tourism. They have a growing need for the food and fiber products we produce in Texas. Our geographic location means we can compete aggressively for Cuban sales.

U.S. public opinion indicates that it’s time to resume selling food and medicine to Cuba. The votes in Congress are there to make it happen. We have yet to convince the House leadership that Congress and the country deserves a vote.

We are excited about the possibilities of these two situations and other trading opportunities. In Farm Bureau, we believe that food is best used as a tool for peace and prosperity for both buyer and seller. Playing politics with food is damaging, especially when only one country imposes a food embargo. Short of a state of war with another nation, there are almost no circumstances where these embargos are justified. These are called unilateral sanctions, and it can be decades before the damage is undone.

With trade to Cuba, China and the world, we can have more positive influence than with heavy-handed sanctions. In the case of Castro’s Cuba, the embargo is blamed for all the nation’s ills that are in reality due to a failed socialist economy. The fruits of free enterprise, once shared with Cuba and China, could very well take root and grow.

Finally, these are dark days in American agriculture. The commodity markets are poor, and the long- term effects of drought and other natural disasters are devastating. We must sell our products. Doors closed to the prospects of trade are slammed in the face of U.S. farmers. We have to open those doors, and resist the temptation to close them for short-term and short-sighted political goals.