Senator Pushing for Smart Trade Policies to Maintain and Strengthen Markets for ND Goods 

New Bill Would Make Trade Adjustment Assistance Available to Producers Hurt by Retaliatory Tariffs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today introduced new legislation to help farmers and ranchers recover losses they face because of the administration’s trade war.

Her bill would make Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) available to farmers and producers whose exports are hurt by retaliatory tariffs caused by the administration’s trade policies. TAA was created in 1962 to help workers harmed by changing trade policies. In 2002, former U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) fixed TAA to make sure farmers were eligible for assistance if commodity prices were driven down by excessive imports. However, farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs imposed on their exports are not currently eligible for the direct financial assistance provided by the program. Heitkamp’s bill would change that at no additional cost to the existing TAA program.

Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers don’t want a handout – they want access to markets to sell their goods. But as long as the administration pushes a trade war that lowers commodity prices and puts North Dakota agriculture at risk, Congress should act to give farmers and ranchers some certainty that they’ll be protected from losses caused by retaliatory tariffs against their goods,” Heitkamp said. “As producers watch prices for the crops in their fields decline, this legislation would give them some peace of mind that they’ll be able to access help if they need it – but the only truly long-term solution to strengthen our farm economy is to give up this misguided trade war and work to expand markets for our farmers and ranchers. Right now, I fear that farmers and ranchers will feel long-term ramifications from this trade war because of the loss of contracts and markets, many of which took years to create. We can and must modernize current trade deals to meet the changing needs of our economy, but this trade war is treating rural America like collateral damage – and that has to end.”

To qualify for assistance under Heitkamp’s bill, farmers would have to qualify as a class of producers, and then each farmer would need to meet specific program requirements to demonstrate that trade actions have negatively caused the commodity to decline.

Heitkamp has taken proactive steps to stand up for North Dakota farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers as the administration’s trade war continues to escalate. In addition to this new bill, she introduced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) to require congressional approval of tariffs designated for national security reasons, such as the aluminum and steel tariffs imposed on our trading partners like the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. She also cosponsored bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to nullify the steel and aluminum tariffs.

Heitkamp has also continued to press top administration officials -- including at the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Agriculture Department, and U.S. Commerce Department -- about how the trade war is hurting North Dakota producers and manufacturers. And she has coordinated meetings with the Canadian ambassador and Mexican ambassador to help maintain relationships and contracts for North Dakota farmers and ranchers that are put in jeopardy by the administration’s actions.

In recent weeks, Heitkamp has traveled the state and heard concerns about trade in Kindred, Grand Forks, Richardton, Dickinson, Mandan, Minot, Carrington, Wahpeton, and Langdon.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently released a report showing how the ongoing, escalating trade war threatens over $60 million in North Dakota exports. The report estimates that over 111,000 jobs in North Dakota are supported by trade. 

Background:

Heitkamp has continued to press for smart trade policies that support North Dakota’s farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers by:

• Pressing top officials since the beginning of this administration to protect and expand markets for North Dakota goods. Heitkamp has met with the U.S. Agriculture Secretary (USDA), U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), U.S Commerce Secretary, the Canadian ambassador to the U.S., and many other top U.S. administration officials – many of them several times – to explain that the U.S. needs smart trade policies to allow our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers to reach new markets – not tariffs, uncertainty with NAFTA, or hostility toward our top trading partners. In February 2017, when she first met with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, when he was a nominee for the position, the bulk of their conversation focused on trade. Heitkamp recently pushed Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, on the impact of the administration’s trade war on the U.S. economy. Powell agreed that imposing tariffs over a sustained period time is the wrong thing to do for the economy.  

• Supporting bipartisan legislation to stop the tariffs. Heitkamp recently joined U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) leading a bipartisan group of eight other senators in introducing legislation to require congressional approval of tariffs designated for national security reasons. Heitkamp also cosponsored bipartisan legislation introduced by Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona to nullify the aluminum and steel tariffs.

• Gaining input from North Dakotans. Heitkamp has regularly met with folks from North Dakota impacted by trade, including recent meetings in Washington with North Dakota growers of soybeans, corn, barley, and other commodities, as well as manufacturers and small business owners. She has held a series of meetings across the state to gain input from North Dakotans in agriculture, energy, and manufacturing. And she recently launched a web survey to gain input from North Dakotans to help inform how she can best push back on the administration’s actions on trade.

• Outlining her agenda to strengthen and protect North Dakota’s economy. During a meeting with USTR Robert Lighthizer earlier this year, Heitkamp laid out her top four priorities to support North Dakota workers, farmers, and businesses by enabling them to export their products abroad, and recently spoke out against the administration’s escalating trade war with China, which also threatens North Dakota’s main industries – energy, agriculture, and manufacturing.

• Raising concerns about impacts of retaliatory tariffs on the manufacturing industry. Heitkamp recently toured WCCO Belting, Inc. in Wahpeton and heard firsthand the concerns the North Dakota manufacturer has about trade wars and its ability to export its goods. Over half of WCCO’s sales are to international customers, making trade an essential part of its business model.

• Speaking out against tariffs and uncertainty regarding NAFTA that would put the state’s economy at risk. Heitkamp has met with farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers across North Dakota to talk about the need for smart trade policies that support North Dakota. She penned op-eds in March 2017 and again in April 2018 making the case. In February, she also did an episode on her podcast, The Hotdish, about NAFTA and the importance of trade for agriculture. For the episode, she interviewed the former U.S. agricultural trade negotiator and a North Dakota barley farmer. Heitkamp recently brought a group of North Dakota agriculture leaders to the Mexican Embassy in Washington to talk about the importance of NAFTA and reinforce their commitment to a strong relationship with their customers in Mexico.

• Pressing for analysis about the impact of the administration’s trade policies on small businesses. Heitkamp recently called on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy to analyze the impact of the administration’s tariff policies on American small businesses. Small businesses represent nearly 99 percent of all businesses in North Dakota, and support nearly 60 percent of all jobs in the state, according to SBA.

 

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