Governors and senators from agricultural states such as Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, North and South Dakota had a meeting with President Donald Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer today to discuss recent trade actions and how farmers may be impacted.
In a press availability prior to the start of the meeting, President Trump talked about NAFTA, China, the European Union, and his philosophy on tariffs. “We want more trade, we want no barriers,” said Trump. “The tariffs have really helped us. When used properly, they get people to the table and that’s what we want.”
Trump says he wants a fair NAFTA deal. “NAFTA has been a disaster,” he said. “So we are either going to come up with a great NAFTA deal and a fair one or we’re just going to do something else, and agriculture will be taken care of, 100 percent.”
Listen to Trump’s comments here: Trump talks farm trade issues
The big news coming out of that meeting, however, was about ethanol, as President Trump said he supported allowing the year-round use of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15). “This is no guarantee, but we’re going to raise it up to 15 percent, which makes a lot of people happy,” said the president prior to a meeting with lawmakers on agricultural trade issues. “We’re going to go to 12 months, which makes a lot of farmers very happy.”
Listen to Trump’s E15 comments here: Trump comments on E15