[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 23 (Thursday, February 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1004-S1005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Bilateral Trade Agreements

  Mr. President, President Trump is meeting this weekend with Japanese 
Prime Minister Abe, and so I want to take this opportunity to talk 
about the need for bilateral trade deals.
  We have heard during the campaign and since he has been elected 
President of the United States that Donald Trump has not been adverse 
to trade. He said he is for fair trade. I think that makes sense, that 
we should have it.
  I would like to talk about some of the problems that are there that I 
think he can correct that had not been corrected by the previous 
administration.
  Bilateral trade agreements with our key allies should be a priority 
for this Congress, and I look forward to working with the Trump 
administration to ensure that these agreements grow American exports, 
especially for our agriculture and our energy producers.
  For full disclosure, I must admit that my State of Oklahoma is a 
major ag State and also a major energy State.
  Of our many key allies, I want to highlight three opportunities for 
the United States to engage in bilateral trade agreements with three 
countries: Japan, Taiwan, and then many of the countries in Sub-Saharan 
Africa.
  Japan has the third largest economy in the world, but American 
farmers and ranchers are limited in their ability to access them, and 
this is why: They have very high tariffs on things we would want to 
export to Japan. At the same time, we are buying their automobiles. We 
are buying their products. And that is one of the typical examples of 
what I think our new President has been referring to. He wants to have 
the deals that benefit equally America and our partners. I think we can 
really do that.
  We should engage with Japan to develop bilateral trade agreements 
with a focus on providing new and commercially meaningful market access 
for agricultural exports and smoothing the way for increased energy 
exports. In particular, Oklahoma beef producers are chomping at the bit 
to get more access to the Japanese market.
  In addition to agriculture, my State is an energy State, as I 
mentioned, and Japan is a nation that is hungry for energy. In fact, 
Japan has accounted for 37 percent of global LNG purchases since 2012. 
LNG is liquefied natural gas. I am biased because we are a major 
producer in the State of Oklahoma. It is something they need, and they 
need to get it from someone. We ought to make this a bilateral 
arrangement. A trade agreement with Japan would streamline the current 
lengthy and pretty cumbersome process for LNG exports to Japan, 
ensuring that they have a reliable source of energy production and 
providing jobs to Oklahoma at home.
  In addition to Japan, Taiwan is a close friend and ally to the United 
States and our ninth largest trading partner. As I happen to be the 
chairman of the Taiwan Caucus, I know firsthand how important it is to 
strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, which we can do by engaging in 
direct bilateral trade agreement negotiations with that country. There 
is no reason for us not to.
  I believe that a key component of any trade agreement, including with 
Taiwan, is an effort to ensure that food safety and animal health 
regulations are aligned and based on science to ensure that any 
differences do not become non-tariff trade barriers. This would enable 
us to directly address the ban Taiwan has against U.S. pork because we 
use an ingredient called ractopamine in our feed to keep the hogs lean. 
It is perfectly safe, but Taiwan uses that as an excuse to block 
imports of our pork to their country. This is an issue I have already 
brought up with the Trump administration and with Wilbur Ross, who is 
waiting for confirmation as the next Secretary of Commerce. That is why 
we need bilateral trade agreements with Japan and Taiwan.
  Our trade relations with counties in Africa are also important 
because, according to the Economist magazine, six of the world's 
fastest growing economies were in Sub-Saharan Africa from the year 2000 
to 2010. For too long Sub-Saharan Africa has been ignored as a trading 
partner for the American Government. In fact, they pretty much have 
been ignored anyway.
  I can remember when the continent of Africa was in three different 
commands. They had the Pacific Command, European Command, and Central 
Command. For this continent with its significance, I was somewhat 
instrumental in changing that, in establishing a new command, which is 
called the AFRICOM. The same thing has been true in terms of not using 
it as a trading partner.
  For the last 20 years, I have been--I think I made my 144th African 
country visit--working with that continent, and I have seen firsthand 
the vast potential that is there. When they say

[[Page S1005]]

their economies are growing--and a lot of times they say ``Well, we are 
not interested in doing that'' because they are not large enough yet.
  Last year, Congress enacted my ``Africa Free Trade Initiative Act,'' 
which requires government agencies--the USTR, USAID, and other 
agencies--to collaborate on efforts to build trade-based capacity in 
African nations. This is a step in the right direction for America to 
partner with and secure deeper ties to the fastest growing economies in 
Sub-Saharan Africa.
  While some in our government may not deem Sub-Saharan African 
countries ready for deeper collaborations on trade with the United 
States, let me tell you what is going to happen if we don't. We still 
have this country called China. Right now, China has become very active 
in Africa. What you hear in Africa is, America will tell you what you 
need, but China builds what you need. The problem with that is, that 
doesn't help Africa, and Africans know this, because China imports 
their own labor to build all these things.
  So this is one of the things we are looking at where we can actually 
come out ahead if we will get in on the ground floor and get involved 
with these economically active countries. And we need to focus more on 
building trade in legal capacities so that they are ready to do trade 
agreements, and when that time comes, they will be doing it with us and 
helping their economies grow. That is what our economic assistance 
should be all about. They grow, and we are going to grow with them.
  That is a go of what was enacted in last year's African Free Trade 
Initiative Act, and I will continue my work with the new administration 
to ensure that African nations are not left behind.
  With China's rising economic might, we need to strengthen America's 
current relationships with some of our strongest Asian allies, such as 
Japan and Taiwan, with new bilateral trade agreements, and this will 
help counter China's growing influence if that region too.
  Oklahoma farmers, ranchers, energy producers, and manufacturers need 
competitive access to international markets to sell Oklahoma-grown and 
Oklahoma-produced products. New agreements with our allies would 
generate more economic activity and create jobs not just in Oklahoma 
but throughout America.
  I think this is the thing that the new administration is talking 
about when he says we need to have--there is no justification for 
arrangements where we are not able to have a comparable tariff 
arrangement where the countries can trade with each other, and that is 
what we anticipate doing.
  Let me mention one other thing. I know that the Senators on the other 
side of the aisle are spending a lot of time blocking or trying to 
block the nominations by this President. Every once in a while, I have 
to get on the floor and remind them that it is not going to work. You 
know they are all going to be confirmed. The votes are there, and you 
can say anything you want about some of the fine people who have been 
nominated by this President.
  I was privileged to visit with President Trump in Trump Tower before 
he was President. I can remember going up there to visit and seeing the 
people who would be advisers and the types of people he was going to be 
nominating, and it was very impressive. Now we have gone through a 
situation where the Democrats in the Senate have stalled these 
nominations. They stalled them longer than they have ever been stalled 
in the history of America, going all the way back to George Washington. 
All we are doing is wasting time that we could be acting productively 
in correcting some of the problems we have in this country.