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Corn Refiners praises USMCA but warns of WTO pull out
The president of the Corn Refiners Association says USMCA implementation is a great accomplishment but there is a potential threat that lurks in Congress. John Bode said, on a Farmers for Free Trade call, the threat extends from President Trump’s desire to pull out of the World Trade Organization.
“The magnitude of this accomplishment (USMCA) is highlighted by the fact that the Senate may soon be voting on a truly terrible idea, withdrawal from WTO.”
Bode says withdrawal from the WTO would be a ‘brutal blow’ to agriculture and commends House leadership for not bringing it to a vote this year.
Bode says the withdrawal argument is a false narrative that pits ag exports against manufacturing jobs which he says is nonsense because NAFTA also grew value-added ag exports, “Which helps explain why one in four American manufacturing jobs is now agriculture related. Ag trade does not hurt manufacturing jobs. Ag trade BUILDS American manufacturing jobs.”
Bode says modernizing trade with the two largest export markets for the U.S. is “tremendous.” As for the WTO, he says, it needs to be reformed, not abandoned.
John Bode on FFFT call
