Recent U.S. Ambassador to China, Max Baucus (D-MT), and former Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Richard Lugar (R-IN), announced yesterday the formation of Farmers for Free Trade, a bipartisan non-profit focused on driving global competitiveness for the U.S. agriculture industry.
Co-Chairs Baucus and Lugar plan to build a grassroots powerhouse that informs, mobilizes and amplifies the voice of U.S. farmers and ranchers who depend on worldwide markets, according to the press release. “This is about U.S. leadership, not just across all 50 states but beyond,” Baucus said. “The U.S. food and agriculture community recognizes that our farmers and ranchers are supported by, and benefit from, the highly-integrated, cross-border supply chains that make up the agriculture and food processing industries as well as serve customers around the globe.”
In 2016, U.S. agriculture exported $129 billion worth of products and has a projected trade surplus of $20 billion in 2017. While the industry relies first and foremost on U.S. customers, global markets are critically important as well. America exports 50 percent of all major commodity crops including corn, wheat and soybeans; 70 percent of fruit nuts; and 25 percent of pork. Additionally, exports account for 20 percent of all U.S. farm revenue and depend on strong relations with key trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, China and Japan.
“Farming is still the backbone of our economy and the shining star of US export growth – we need to keep it healthy and strong,” said Sara Lilygren, Chair of the Farmers for Free Trade Board of Directors. “That’s why Farmers for Free Trade wants to ensure agriculture is top of mind as decisions are made respecting our industry’s economic, political and business skills.”
“We’re talking about supporting good American jobs — from growers, harvesters, processors, and packagers – to multimodal transportation providers including grain elevator operators, railroad workers, truck drivers and port operators,” said Lugar, “A strong and healthy agriculture industry has a multiplier effect on the secondary and tertiary jobs it creates in rural communities.”
With the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the announcement of NAFTA modernization talks, and global competitors aggressively filling the void, U.S. farmers are already experiencing disruptions resulting from market turmoil.
“The time is now for the U.S. agriculture industry to speak out early and often — very, very forcibly – to ensure farmers and ranchers are not thrown under the bus as we renegotiate agriculture’s most important trade agreements, and as we set the tone for countless additional trade discussions in the years to come,” Baucus said. “Senator Lugar and I agree that America must be a forceful leader in promoting fair and free trade around the globe and I know we’re going to make a great team.”
Max Baucus is a Democrat from Montana who served in the U.S. Senate for six terms before being tapped by President Obama to represent the United States as our ambassador to China, a post he held from 2014 to 2017. As ambassador, and prior to that as chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Baucus was a staunch advocate for American agriculture in all trade negotiations.
Richard Lugar is a Republican who represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate from 1977 to 2013. During his distinguished career, he served as chairman of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. He is President and CEO of the Lugar Center, which seeks to improve global food security, bipartisan governance, and nuclear security. He also manages his family’s 604-acre corn, soybean, and tree farm in Indiana.
Sara Lilygren serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors where she brings over 37 years expertise in food and agriculture advocacy, including 20 years with the meat and processed food industry, Non-Governmental Organizations, as well as 15 years leading Tyson Foods, Inc. global corporate affairs. Sara’s first-hand experience with numerous market access and trade policy challenges facing US farmers and ranchers since the mid-1980s make her ideally suited for this leadership role.
For additional information, please contact [email protected]. or visit www.FarmersForFreeTrade.com.
