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Miss. Senator Cites Non-Scientific Chinese Barriers, Pressures on Catfish Industry at Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) pressed a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary nominee for trade to commit to fighting persistent barriers that restrict the ability of American agriculture producers to export more goods on the world market.
Hyde-Smith serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee that conducted a confirmation hearing Tuesday afternoon on the nominations of Luke Lindberg to be Undersecretary of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs and Devon Westhill to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights.
“Mississippi producers are under increasing pressure and it is critical that President Trump’s team at the Department of Agriculture be fully engaged as the administration tries to reframe our trade policies. China and other nations continue to take advantage of global markets and we need a more level playing field for U.S. producers to export more around the world,” Hyde-Smith said following the hearing.
In questioning Lindberg, Hyde-Smith asked how he will ensure international trade restrictions imposed on U.S. products related to animal disease outbreaks are science-based and lifted promptly when conditions warrant.
“Livestock and poultry producers in Mississippi and around the country have taken huge financial hits from animal disease outbreaks, like highly pathogenic avian influenza,” Hyde-Smith said. “Some countries, like China, use these disease outbreaks as an excuse for unjustified trade barriers that are not science-based. We saw this with BSE in the early 2000s when it took over 13 years for China to buy our beef again. It is something I worked on as the Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce during that time. That was just their excuse – there was an outbreak.”
Lindberg responded that he is committed to working with foreign counterpart agencies to establish agricultural standards that meet the needs of U.S. farmers and ranchers, including fighting non-tariff barriers such as non-science-based health restrictions.
“I’m also a fierce advocate. I want to show up in those countries, knock the door down, and say to them, ‘It’s time to open up and it’s time to move forward, and this is no longer acceptable under President Trump and the America First trade agenda,’” Lindberg said.
Regarding the catfish industry in Mississippi and the South, Hyde-Smith sought Lindberg’s commitment to use his position over the Foreign Agricultural Service to work with the U.S. Trade Representative and State Department to ensure strict enforcement of U.S. inspection standards for catfish imports.
“Mississippi leads the nation in catfish production, yet our producers face unfair competition from unfairly subsidized, low-cost, and sometimes unsafe, imports of catfish, particularly from Vietnam,” Hyde-Smith said. “Growers in Mississippi and across the South raise high quality and sustainably grown farm-raised catfish that follow strict environmental, labor, and health standards. How will you work with the U.S. Trade Representative and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure strict enforcement of inspection standards to prevent unsafe imports from harming consumers and domestic catfish producers?”
Lindberg responded, “Somebody will have to explain to me someday how the United States of America, with two oceans on each side of us and the mighty Mississippi, and the Great Lakes, and all of these things, and yet we’re importing 75 percent of our seafood that we consume. I will absolutely work across my agency at USDA, should I be confirmed to this role, to ensure that exactly what you’re saying, as well as with our interagency partners, to make sure our catfish producers have the ability to sell here domestically.”
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