Calling the phase one trade agreement with China an “encouraging step,” Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif issued a statement that encouraged the Trump administration to quickly finalize and implement the deal.
In a Dec. 16 statement, Nassif said President Trump has been making progress on several trade issues.
“President Trump is following through on his promise to rebalance the relationship between the U.S. and many of our global trading partners,” Nassif said in the statement, noting the trade deal with Japan, the USMCA and now the phase one trade deal with China.
“We are excited to hear from the administration that the deal is to include not only substantial increases in agricultural purchases by China and a return to normal, but also commitments to address China’s non-tariff barriers,” Nassif said in the statement.
“Non-scientifically based sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards have been used too often to deny access of American product to the Chinese market, and we’ve long urged that this problem be resolved,” he said. “We look forward to reviewing additional details of the phase one deal and working with the Administration to ensure the deal delivers wins for our fruit, vegetable and tree nut growers.”
Nassif said growers appreciate the trade mitigation assistance program offered by the Trump administration but said full market access is needed quickly to winning back market share from global competitors.
“For this reason, we urge the Administration to quickly finalize and implement this deal, bringing us one step closer to restoring market access and getting back to normal for American fruit vegetable and tree nut producers,” Nassif said in the statement.
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