Column: Expressing Trade Priorities To USTR

Statement

When I speak with the farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and other businesses in the Third District, a common theme is the importance of trade to our state's economic success. This week, the Ways and Means Committee held our annual hearing on the administration's trade policy agenda, where members of the committee had their first opportunity to hear from and question Ambassador Katherine Tai, our recently confirmed United States Trade Representative (USTR). I appreciated the opportunity to urge the Biden Administration to enforce existing trade agreements and reiterate the necessity of renewing Trade Promotional Authority and completing pending free trade agreements that would not only benefit Nebraska, but our nation as a whole.

The previous administration laid great groundwork for increased market opportunities for American products and well-paying jobs, and I encouraged Ambassador Tai to build on that foundation and finish negotiating trade agreements with the United Kingdom, Kenya, China and Japan. I also made it clear the Biden Administration needs to move forward on renewing Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Realistically, the U.S. cannot negotiate agreements without TPA, which currently expires at the end of June. If we do not renew TPA immediately, our trading partners will see it as a signal that the United States no longer prioritizes negotiating agreements and finding new market opportunities for American products and businesses.

Trade agreements can only function if all parties adhere to the agreement, and I voiced this to Ambassador Tai regarding Mexico's failure to adhere to commitments it made in the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA); specifically delaying biotech import approvals, as well as Mexico's recent decree to phase out genetically modified corn and glyphosate. Nebraska is the leader of white corn production in the nation, and Mexico buys roughly 54 percent of our country's white corn export on average, over 90 percent of which is biotech. Needless to say, this would have major consequences for our state and I was grateful to receive a commitment from Ambassador Tai that she would raise this issue with her Mexican counterpart next week during the first meeting of the USMCA's Free Trade Commission.

I also expressed the need to protect American industry and innovation to Ambassador Tai. USTR recently came out in support of a bid from several countries to waive intellectual property (IP) requirements related to COVID-19 vaccines under the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Aspects of IP Rights (TRIPS) agreement. While there is no question that we should all work together to address the global needs of vaccine distribution, waiving the IP rights of American companies is not the answer. I am concerned such a move will share commercially sensitive information with China. It is essential that we do not give China any opportunity to take advantage of the United States, we must protect American innovation.

The work the United States must do regarding our trade negotiations is nowhere close to being finished, but it is my hope that Ambassador Tai will build upon the successes of the previous administration and get the job done. The hearing this week was vital to showing the Biden Administration the necessity of making our free trade agreements, and the accountability that comes with them, a key initiative. In my role on the Ways and Means Committee, I will continue to support policies that expand export opportunities for Nebraskans and remind USTR of the impacts of trade agreements on rural America.

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