Colorado Corn Administrative Committee’s Alternate Director Troy Schneider and Executive Director Nicholas Colglazier participated in an Agricultural Trade Roundtable with United States Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and Senator Michael Bennet on June 3, 2022. The meeting was hosted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
Ambassador Tai provided an outlook on the goals for trade set by the administration and talked about recent progress on the trade front. Tai spoke of the recent allowance of U.S. potatoes to be imported into Mexico, capping off a 15-year effort, and the recent revisions to an agreement making changes to Japan’s safeguard on U.S. beef, making the safeguard less likely to be triggered. The meeting also offered participants the opportunity to ask the Ambassador questions on trade topics important to Colorado ag.
Colglazier was able discuss Brazilian tariffs on ethanol, asking how the USTR is working to make the elimination permanent as well as building, maintaining, and defending global ethanol markets, allowing agriculture to be part of decarbonizing the transportation sector across the globe. The Ambassador hit on the many topics impacting global trade that ranged from COVID recovery, supply chain issues and the Russian war in Ukraine.
Ambassador Tai concluded that further trade progress will not be easy, but she believes that the United States is in a good position for success in the medium and long term. She is looking forward to continuing to listen to Colorado agricultural producers on the issue of trade, and how important it is to our farmers and rancher.