Greg Doud with the U.S Trade Representative’s office recently made a trip through Washington, talking about the state’s Ag community and what can be done to encourage more trade into the future. Central Washington Representative Dan Newhouse met with the Ambassador during his stop in Ritzville. The two talked not only about USMCA, Japan, ongoing talks with the EU, but also progress that has been made with China.

loading...

“As we move through this Phase One negotiated trade deal with China, I think that the orders that we have on the books, and those that we anticipate are going to be tremendous for American agriculture including some of the important crops that we produce in the state of Washington.”

Newhouse added that China is a very tough negotiator, which makes striking up a fair trade deal difficult. But after his conversations with Doud, Newhouse said he’s very optimistic about the future.

“If we continue to keep working with them, keep applying the pressure working in good faith with them that we’ll be able to improve our ability to market some of our, many of our crops to China.  It’s a huge market for us and a lot of potential there.”

Newhouse added while a lot has been accomplished for the American farmer at this point, a lot of work remains on behalf of the agriculture community.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com

More From PNW Ag Network