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East Oregonian
Saturday, October 6, 2018
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
WYATT HAUPT
News Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Trade deal rebuilding has begun
T
he past week marked three major breakthroughs for the
Trump administration — and for the U.S. farmers who
depend on trade relationships with Pacific Rim nations.
First, the U.S., Mexico and Canada announced they had
come to terms on a rewrite of the North American Free Trade
Agreement. Now called the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement, or USMCA, it addresses the shortcomings of
NAFTA. President Donald Trump on Monday said the new
deal “solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA,
greatly opens markets to our farmers and manufacturers,
reduces trade barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great
Nations together in competition with the rest of the world.”
Though much of the new agreement mirrors NAFTA,
it includes a section that allows more U.S. dairy exports to
Canada — 3.6 percent of that nation’s market. It also requires
Canada to scuttle its pricing rules that kept U.S. dairy products
out of that market.
Canada will also allow more access to U.S. poultry
and eggs, and British Columbia will sell U.S. wine at its
government-owned liquor stores. At the same time, Mexico is
opening the door to more U.S. cheese.
Second, the administration announced the signing of a
revised trade agreement with South Korea. Called KORUS,
the deal mainly focuses on the importation of automobiles
between the two nations. But an important point to note is
the sections related to U.S. agricultural exports to South
Korea were not lost in the discussion. They remained intact.
That in itself is crucial for U.S. farmers and ranchers, who
last year sold $1.2 billion in beef, $705 million in corn, $490
million in fruit, $475 million in pork and $328 million in
wheat to South Korean customers.
Third, and as importantly, President Donald Trump
and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the
beginning of talks aimed at a new bilateral trade agreement
between their nations. Trump was following through on the
promise he made when he scuttled U.S. participation in the
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Both Trump and
his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, had promised to
toss that agreement on the trash heap.
The remaining 11 members of the TPP adopted the
agreement without the U.S. That worried many U.S.
farm groups, because Japan is a large customer of such
commodities as corn, wheat and beef.
It’s been 20 months since Trump took the U.S. out of
the TPP, and the delay made farmers nervous, as they saw
TPP participants such as Canada and Australia preparing to
enjoy low- and no-tariff access to Japanese customers. Not
having any sort of trade deal with Japan, the fourth-largest
foreign customer for U.S. farmers, would be costly. The top-
selling U.S. ag goods in Japan last year were corn, at $2.1
Associated Press/Even Vucci
Clockwise from top: President Donald Trump shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week
in New York, where they announced new bilateral trade talks. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Free-
land points during a news conference. President Donald Trump points to a member of the media on Monday.
billion; beef and beef products, at $1.9 billion; pork and
pork products, at $1.6 billion; soybeans, at $947 million; and
wheat, at $713 million.
Trade deals cannot be negotiated overnight. A new
agreement with Japan is likely to require a lot of give-and-
take, as both nations are important customers of the other.
Having a trade agreement between the U.S. and Japan is
critical. We hope the deal will be far better than the TPP was
for the U.S. — especially after Trump’s declarations that it
couldn’t be worse.
In the meantime, the U.S. should be courting a lot of other
nations and trade blocs. Our hope is last week was just the
beginning of a lot of new announcements on trade talks and
agreements.
YOUR VIEWS
Murdock an asset to county
My decision to support Commissioner
Murdock for re-election was easy; the
county has benefited by his leadership.
To continue in our growth, it’s extremely
important he remains a member of the
Umatilla County Board of Commissioners.
I fully support George Murdock for
re-election to county commissioner. I
have known how much he has served
the county: he balanced the budget, cut
waste, and reached out to all sections
of the county. His knowledge in county
government is an asset we can’t afford to
lose.
I urge you to support George Murdock
for re-election.
John Trumbo
Pendleton
Gomolski a man of the
people
I support Mark Gomolski for city
council. I have known Mark for over 30
years. He cares about people. He loves our
Hermiston — that’s why I moved here. He
is the right person for the job.
Vote for Mark for city council.
Mark F. Gomolski
Hermiston
Walden should return to
citizenry
In the past, I have happily cast ballots
for Greg Walden. I was glad when
he came to Congress, closing out the
embarrassing Wes Cooley affair with the
promise of sober, reasonable, and involved
representation. Walden lived up to that
promise for several terms, earning my vote
the next November.
In recent years, though, something
has changed; the involvement is gone.
Walden seems to care more about raking in
campaign cash and making House Speaker
Paul Ryan happy than even meeting with
his constituents. He has taken to sneaking
in and out of places with the stealth of
a ninja: a Rotary meeting here, a high-
dollar fundraiser there, appearing and
disappearing like an ill wind. Town hall
meetings are announced with less than 36
hours’ notice, such as one in Boardman a
few months ago, or they don’t happen at
all.
Jamie McLeod-Skinner, on the other
hand, has been parking her camper all over
the 2nd District, talking with — and, more
importantly, listening to — folks from
every walk of life here, from farmers and
ranchers in Pendleton to small business
owners in John Day. She hears our stories
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the
East Oregonian editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page
express the opinions of the authors and
not necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
Samuel Hairston
Hermiston
A veteran’s reason for
voting for Murdock
and considers how all stakeholders can be
treated fairly in the public arena.
A congressman who seems to be afraid
of his constituents cannot effectively
represent them. Greg Walden needs to be
forced to face his fear of private citizens
by being returned to their proud ranks.
Elect Jamie McLeod-Skinner to Congress.
Chris Early
Irrigon
Murdock makes tough
decisions, gets results
As a veteran of 16 county budget
cycles, I have a fairly good idea of some of
the budget challenges Umatilla County has
experienced over the years. The sheriff’s
office had less than half of the patrol staff
that was needed for basic service, the jail
had a cap of 132 inmates, all based on our
budget. Fortunately, the patrol staff his
increased dramatically and the jail cap is
now 250.
This didn’t happen because all of
a sudden Umatilla County fell into a
large pool of money — it happened
through making tough decisions on
staffing levels, reorganization of
county departments and good fiscal
management.
It also didn’t happen until
Commissioner George Murdock arrived
on scene. If you look at his work history,
you will find a person who has built his
career on making the tough decisions
and making good fiscal management a
priority.
George Murdock has been a strong
advocate for veterans in Umatilla County.
He has doubled the number of veteran’s
service officers, served on the Association
of Oregon Counties Veterans Committee,
fought for legislation to help provide
services to veterans, and introduced
the Hidden Heroes program to Oregon.
The Hidden Heroes program focuses on
caregivers for veterans.
He also chaired the celebration of WW
II veterans of Umatilla County, and is
leading the effort to honor our Korean War
veterans in November.
He comes by his respect for Veterans
honestly, since his father was a commander
in the Navy and during WW II he and his
mother lived all over the United States
while his father served in the Bering Sea,
the North Atlantic, and North Africa.
Tom Tangney
Korean War veteran
Pendleton
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the
newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual
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Send letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.