NEWS
BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Trump touts wall at Farm Bureau convention
By Mateusz Perkowski
EO Media Group
Shortly after taking the
podium at the American
Farm Bureau Federation’s
annual convention, Presi-
dent Donald Trump asked
the assembled farmers and
ranchers to sit down.
If they remained stand-
ing for the duration of his
speech, Trump said, the
“fake news” would report
that he hadn’t received a sin-
gle standing ovation.
“They can make any-
thing you do look bad,” he
said.
The president need not
have worried. His com-
ments on a variety of topics,
from border security to the
farm bill, inspired the audi-
ence to get to its feet mul-
tiple times and engage in
uproarious applause.
At the end, Trump
praised the men and women
in the crowd for working
hard, respecting the Amer-
ican fl ag and teaching their
children right from wrong.
“Now you have a gov-
ernment that is loyal to you,
fi nally, in return,” he said at
the convention, which cel-
ebrated the AFBF’s 100th
year.
Much of Trump’s Jan.
14 speech in New Orleans
was devoted to the subject
that has gripped the nation’s
attention in recent weeks:
the proposed border wall
and the associated partial
government shutdown.
Trump emphasized the
humanitarian concerns of
migrants crossing the south-
ern border as well as the
national security risks.
A wall or barrier is
needed to stop human traf-
fi ckers who avoid normal
ports of entry while trans-
porting bound and gagged
women, he said. “They
drive right in and have no
problem.”
Due to the need for for-
eign labor in some agricul-
tural sectors, Trump said he
had no problem with immi-
grants coming in “legally
through a process.”
“You need people to help
you with the farms, and I’m
not going to rule that out,”
he said, adding that he aims
to make it easier for guest-
workers to enter the country.
Nonetheless,
Trump
criticized the “catch and
Contributed photo/AFBF
President Donald Trump addresses the 100th Annual American Farm Bureau
Federation Convention in New Orleans on Jan. 14.
release” policy of allowing
undocumented immigrants
to stay in the U.S. while
awaiting adjudication under
immigration laws.
Only 2 to 3 percent of
them bother showing up for
the proceedings, he said.
“Those people you almost
don’t want because they
can’t be very smart.”
The president also com-
plained that the govern-
ments of Honduras, El
Salvador and Guatemala
haven’t done more to stop
immigrant “caravans” from
heading north even as these
countries receive humani-
tarian aid from the U.S.
“Like so many nations,
we help them, they don’t
help us,” he said.
At one point, Trump
invited Arizona rancher
Jim Chilton to the stage,
explaining that a border
patrol agent was shot on his
property along the Mexican
border, which is used for
drug smuggling.
Chilton said a border wall
was was not immoral, point-
ing to the wall surrounding
the Vatican.
“Mr. President, we need
a wall,” Chilton said.
Trump mentioned other
accomplishments of his
administration — increasing
the exemption to the federal
estate tax, buttressing pro-
tections for growers in the
farm bill and scaling back
Clean Water Act jurisdiction
over farmland— without
dwelling on them at length.
“We’re going to get the
government off your back
so you can make a living
doing what you love,” he
said.
The
president
also
addressed a subject that’s
touchy for many farmers
affected by retaliatory tariffs
on their crops— the ongoing
trade confl ict with China.
The U.S. tariffs are nec-
essary to resolve unfair
practices on that country’s
part, such as stealing agri-
cultural trade secrets and
implementing “arbitrary”
bans on U.S. farm products,
he said.
Trump said he doesn’t
blame Chinese offi cials for
policies that have resulted in
a trade imbalance with the
U.S.
“It’s our fault for allow-
ing it to happen,” he said.
The audience cheered
when Trump brought up
his low approval ratings in
the European Union, with
which the U.S. also has
trade tensions over steel and
aluminum.
“I’m representing our
country, I’m not represent-
ing those countries,” he said.
As an example of what
his trade approach could
achieve, Trump touted
the U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement, or USMCA,
which is intended to replace
the North American Free
Trade Agreement.
Trump said he’s confi -
dent the new agreement will
be ratifi ed by Congress.
“This landmark trade
deal will increase exports of
wheat from Montana, dairy
from Wisconsin, chickens
from Georgia and products
from farmers and ranchers
all across our country,” he
said.
Though farmers and
ranchers clapped enthusias-
tically when Trump charac-
terized his trade measures
as an example of the U.S.
standing up for itself, the
topic was discussed with
less enthusiasm during other
portions of the convention.
In welcoming the Farm
Bureau to Louisiana, state
offi cials noted the impor-
tance of trade to New Orle-
ans, whose ports handle
roughly 60 percent of U.S.
grain exports.
“It’s imperative we wrap
this up so we have reliable
markets for our ag prod-
ucts,” said Louisiana Gov.
John Bel Edwards.
Zippy Duvall, the Farm
Bureau’s president, com-
mended the passage of
the 2018 Farm Bill and
the Trump administra-
tion’s proposed revision of
the “Waters of U.S.” rules,
which aim to reduce the fed-
eral government’s Clean
Water Act authority that
had been expanded under
Obama.
The agricultural commu-
nity must defend the change
from environmentalists who
are “going to come out in
force and try to defeat this
new rule,” Duvall said.
“Let’s not lose this war in
the last battle,” he said.
Duvall also expressed
gratitude for the USDA’s
tariff relief program for
farmers, which helps mit-
igate the fi nancial strain
on farmers but “in no way
makes us whole.”
China’s predatory trade
tactics have hurt not only
the U.S. but other countries,
which is why the agriculture
industry has been willing
to stand behind the Trump
administration’s approach,
he said.
However, the ability of
farmers to withstand retal-
iatory tariffs is undermined
by crop prices that were low
even before the trade dis-
pute, Duvall said. “We went
into this battle very weak.”
Farmers are patriotic and
want to end China’s misbe-
havior, but unfortunately
“agriculture is bearing the
brunt of this,” said Sen.
Jerry Moran, R-Kan.
Moran said he supports
the Trump administration’s
willingness to stand fi rm
against China but doesn’t
agree with its methods.
“When we take on China
on our own, there are places
like Argentina and Brazil
who take advantage of it”
by exporting more of their
crops to that country, Moran
said.
Not only are tariffs hurt-
ing crop prices by reduc-
ing U.S. exports, but grow-
ers are paying more for farm
machinery due to U.S. tar-
iffs on foreign steel and alu-
minum, said Brian Kuehl,
executive director of the
Farmers for Free Trade
organization.
“Our (crop) prices are
going down and our prod-
uct prices are going up,
and that’s not a good situ-
ation for farmers,” Kuehl
said.
Kuehl said he’d prefer if
the U.S. tried to resolve its
disagreements with China
through the “rules-based
system” overseen by the
World Trade Organization.
The U.S. also made a
mistake by getting involved
in disputes with other trad-
ing partners over steel and
aluminum instead of form-
ing a coalition to confront
China, he said.
“How do we stand up
to them, is the question,”
Kuehl said. “That’s kind of
backwards.”
While the U.S. has
reached an agreement to
replace NAFTA with Mex-
ico and Canada, it’s still
possible that Congress
may “waffl e” in approv-
ing the deal, said former
Rep. Charles Boustany,
R-Louisiana.
At that point, farmers
would face the danger of
having the U.S. withdraw
from NAFTA — which has
paved the way for agricul-
tural exports — without
having anything to replace
it, he said.
“We may end up with
nothing,” Boustany said.
“That’s a real risk.”
Three weeks
into shutdown,
government
weathering
the storm
By Aubrey Wieber
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon state government
has yet to see deep impacts
from a three-week federal
government shutdown, but
some Oregonians are feeling
the pinch.
Saturday the shutdown
became the longest in U.S.
history at 22 days. With Pres-
ident Donald Trump and con-
gressional Democrats unwill-
ing to budge over funding for
a wall on the southern border,
there does not appear to be an
easy exit in sight.
In late December, about a
week into the shutdown, Eliz-
abeth Craig, spokeswoman
for the Oregon Department of
Administrative Services, said
state agencies that receive
funding from their shuttered
federal counterparts could
weather the storm for about
another week without mak-
ing any adjustments.
But some federal pay-
ments have continued during
the shutdown, and the state
has reserves to keep others
afl oat. This week, Craig sent
the Oregon Capital Bureau
an update on agencies and
programs that rely on federal
dollars.
Craig has previously
said the state would seek to
recoup any extra money it
has to shell out during the
shutdown.
The partial government
shutdown has frozen opera-
tions for the federal depart-
ments of Agriculture, Com-
merce, Justice, Homeland
Security, Housing and Urban
Development, Interior, State,
Transportation and Treasury.
Some state programs
should be fi ne through the
federal fi scal year, which
ends Sept. 30, as long as
the closed agencies keep
making payments. Oth-
ers could be impacted ear-
lier, possibly at the end of the
month.
One area of concern is
the Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families program,
also called welfare. That pro-
gram provides cash payments
for low-income families with
children to pay for things like
high rent costs.
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