Overheard in the Industry: Key Influencers Speak Out
“Since I’ve been in Washington, this is my third year, I’ve yet to see a cow, a hog, a corn plant or a soybean plant. It seems to me the USDA should be located somewhere in the Midwest.”
Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing
“The U.S. has the most to lose in a trade war. The people in Trump’s cabinet know that. Bilaterals are better than multi-laterals because you have to ‘give’ so much more to get everyone in multilaterals, but I hope they take steroids in inking these new bilateral trade agreements.”
Jim Wiesemeyer, Informa Economics
“We did something pretty nasty to Canada with country-of-origin labeling. That’s been resolved and now Canadian imports to
the U.S. are growing, and we’ll be able to use our new capacity to handle the influx.”
Dermot Hayes, Iowa State University
“It is hard for me to understand why we tolerate so many barriers to agricultural trade when America is the No. 1 producer of agricultural products ... I think opening up more markets for agricultural sales is a priority for us.”
Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative
Emily Detwiler, senior brand manager, Fresh Pork Division, Smithfield
