News
Trade improvements during COVID-19 pandemic
USDA Undersecretary Ted McKinney says global trade has continued during the coronavirus pandemic and there have even been improvements.
“The threat of the pandemic impacting trade was much greater than reality showed at the end,” he says.
McKinney says some borders were closed briefly in Africa, for example, but that was short lived.
“They pretty quickly recognized that food must transfer,” he says.
He says it helped that food and agriculture workers were considered essential.
“I think we realized what it means to be a critical industry and we’re grateful the president declared the agriculture and food industry as critical and that gave a lot of leverage to make sure that resources could flow,” he says.
McKinney spoke during a recent virtual roundtable by Indiana Farm Bureau.
