The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) 2018 Conference and Expo started off with the timely topic of trade Tuesday.
Ambassador Darci Vetter, General Manager of Public Affairs & Vice Chair of Agriculture Food and Trade of Edelman Public Affairs, presented a pre-conference workshop on “Trade, Tariffs, and Their Impact on American Agriculture.” Vetter, who is former chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA under secretary during the Obama Administration, provided insight into the current state of trade for agriculture.
“Agriculture, and ag retailers specifically, are being squeezed by the Administration’s trade policy,” said Ambassador Vetter. “U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are raising prices on the products they sell, and retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products are reducing the income that U.S. farmers have to purchase them. The entire U.S. agricultural supply chain will feel the pinch of these tariffs, and ag retailers have an opportunity to use their experience to demonstrate the importance of trade to the rural economy.”
Vetter answered retailers trade questions at the workshop and then gave an interview to members of the press attending the conference:
Remarks from Darci Vetter, Edelman Public Affairs, former USTR ag negotiator Interview with Darci Vetter