[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       National Agriculture Week

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this week, we celebrate National 
Agriculture Week. It is a time to celebrate America's farmers and 
ranchers, the hard-working men and women who fill America's 
supermarkets and Americans' dinner plates. Much of daily life here in 
the United States depends on the food, fuel, and fiber that America's 
farms and ranches produce. And this week in particular, we thank those 
who do the hard work of feeding America--and the world.
  There are a lot of factors that go into a farm's or ranch's success. 
Today, I want to talk about just one of those factors that affects a 
lot of farms and ranches, and that is trade. Trade is critical to the 
continued success of American agriculture. One in four acres on U.S. 
farms is planted to be exported to a foreign market, and exports are 
responsible for a fifth of U.S. farm revenue.
  For the 2023 marketing year, American farmers planted nearly 70 
million acres of major crops to supply international markets. But we 
have a problem. Thanks in large part to the Biden administration's 
almost complete inaction on trade, U.S. agriculture exports are 
declining. In fact, last year, the United States posted a $16.6 billion 
agricultural trade deficit--16.6 billion. And that trade deficit, 
believe it or not, is projected to be nearly twice as large this year, 
in an area of our economy where typically we have run, historically, 
trade surpluses.
  This would be bad enough on its own, but it is particularly 
distressing at a time of economic uncertainty for a lot of farmers and 
ranchers. Like so many other Americans, farmers and ranchers have 
suffered under President Biden's inflation crisis. Net farm income is 
expected to see its largest 2-year drop in 40 years.
  We should be doing whatever we can to reverse this trend and help 
farmers and ranchers succeed, and a good place to start would be 
opening new markets for American agricultural products.
  The sorry state of agriculture trade is emblematic of the Biden 
administration's generally unambitious trade agenda. The President made 
it clear early on that trade would not be high on his agenda, and 
unfortunately, he has lived up to that.
  Increased market access--long a priority of the United States--has 
almost completely dropped off the radar under President Biden. The U.S. 
Trade Representative has openly said that the Indo-Pacific Economic 
Framework, which contains one of the few trade initiatives that the 
administration has actually undertaken, was, in fact, designed not--
not--to include tariff reduction. In other words, the Biden 
administration deliberately chose not to pursue a key market-opening 
measure, and now, the Biden administration has put even this 
halfhearted trade initiative on hold, declining to move forward with 
the trade portion of the Indo-Pacific agreement.
  A year ago, I came to the floor to discuss my bipartisan bill to 
kick-start negotiations on a comprehensive free-trade agreement with 
the United Kingdom. Now, you would think that a free-trade agreement 
with one of our oldest allies and largest trading partners would be a 
no-brainer, but the administration has punted on that one, too.
  On digital trade--an area where the United States has historically 
been a leader and in which we should continue to lead--the Biden 
administration is pulling back. Last fall, the U.S. Trade 
Representative abandoned longstanding U.S. policy on digital trade at 
the World Trade Organization--a move that risks letting China take our 
place in writing rules for a major sector of the global economy.
  The United States is currently negotiating zero--zero--free-trade 
agreements. But while the Biden administration keeps America on the 
sidelines, other countries are building up their trading portfolios. 
The European Union is negotiating new free-trade agreements. So is the 
United Kingdom. China is aggressively working to expand its trading 
network.
  The Biden administration's failure on trade is putting our country at 
a competitive disadvantage. The administration is not only forfeiting 
opportunities for American leadership, it is harming American 
businesses, farms, and ranches that look to trade as a way to grow.
  Earlier this week, I joined Senator Blackburn and other Senators in a 
letter to the President urging the administration to uphold America's 
longstanding leadership on digital trade. Last week, I led a group of 
Republican Senators urging the administration to work on expanding 
export opportunities for American agriculture.
  If we want American farmers, ranchers, and business owners to succeed 
in the global economy, trade has to be a priority, and I will continue 
to do everything I can to urge the Biden administration to get off the 
sidelines on trade and start opening up new opportunities for American 
producers.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted 
to speak for up to 10 minutes and Senator Manchin for up to 5 minutes 
prior to the scheduled rollcall vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.