Former USDA Trade Adviser Cautions About Trade War With EU

U.S. agriculture endured losses over the past two years from trade wars, and President Trump is threatening another one. In his State of the Union address earlier this month, Trump credited his tariff strategy for securing more favorable trade deals with China, Canada, and Mexico. And despite billions in losses to U.S. ag and manufacturing, Trump is now after the European Union, with fresh duties on European steel and aluminum goods while also threatening autos.

But former USDA trade chief in the Clinton Administration, Paul Drazek, says Trump’s use of national security rules to go after steel goods like autos invites trouble…

The president claims the EU treats U.S. businesses even worse than China does. U.S. farmers face high tariffs, biotech, phytosanitary, and geographic naming barriers. Drazek says earlier talks with the 27-nation bloc focused on everything but agriculture…

The EU, China, Japan, Mexico, and Vietnam account for almost all of the US’s 852-billion-dollar trade deficit.