The former head of the National Cattlemen?s Beef Association Don Schiefelbein says the Biden Administration is ?missing in action? on trade.
Schiefelbein told Ways and Means lawmakers at a field hearing on his Minnesota farm, that he couldn?t get U.S. beef at a restaurant in the United Kingdom, where U.S. beef has hit its quota under ancient agreements.
That is a stigma the White House just can?t break free of despite back-to-back record years of farm exports. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack at an April Ag appropriations hearing.
But Schiefelbein told NCBA?s ?Beltway Beef? podcast that the White House refuses to do more traditional market-opening FTAs. He says the White House is not being proactive enough in trying to engage potential trade partners.
Schiefelbein says the lack of engagement on trade is a concern held in both parties.
U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai told lawmakers last year the administration has moved beyond FTAs to take a new approach.
Vilsack told lawmakers in April, ?the problem in America today is that there are not enough Americans who trust trade??except maybe in agriculture.
