By Jordan D. Dux, Sr. Director of National Affairs Earlier this week I, along with ...

By Jordan D. Dux, Sr. Director of National Affairs

Earlier this week I, along with I'm sure many of you, had the opportunity to tune in and watch President Trump and Vice President Vance get sworn into office. While I could certainly discuss at length the historic nature of inaugurations, and the simply amazing act of one person and/or party transferring power to an opposing person and/or party, I'll try to limit the history lesson in this piece. As you also all know, President Trump has been very busy selecting members of his cabinet and other senior members of his administration. From a Farm Bureau perspective, we are looking forward to working with old friends and getting to know the many new faces that will be in charge of the ABC Alphabet Soup of federal agencies that make up the Executive Branch of government. Finally, I'm sure you all saw the stack of Executive Orders (EO) the President signed upon taking office. While the political pundits have done their share of analysis on many of them, I wanted to provide you all with Farm Bureau's take on the one EO that will likely have major ramifications for Nebraska's farm and ranch families. That EO is entitled "America First Trade Policy."

During his first four years in office, President Trump was extraordinarily active on the issue of trade, and there were issues where we agreed with the action he took, and others where we disagreed. At the same time, whenever I had a chance to talk about the President's trade policies/agenda, I would tell folks that I was sure some of you 100% agreed with his actions, some who 100% disagreed, and probably a few in the middle. However, the one thing we can all agree on is that President Trump brought trade policy back to the forefront of American politics/policy making. Looking forward into the next four years, I think we can safely assume that he intends to continue that work, and the America First Trade Policy EO paints a relatively clear picture as to the President's plans on trade in the early part of his new four-year term.

Frist, the EO tasks the new members of the President's cabinet to provide reports on a number of trade issues by April on the following:

• the trade deficit
• a new entity to collect tariffs and duties
• unfair foreign trade practices and their remedy
• preparing for the USMCA review scheduled for 2026
• currency manipulation
• a review of all existing free trade agreements
• developing new trade agreements on a bilateral or sector-specific basis
• the application of antidumping and countervailing duty laws
• the importation of counterfeit products and drugs
• and national security implications of trade

While the list extends beyond these mentioned, once confirmed, President Trump's Secretaries of the Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security, the US Trade Representative, as well as others will get to work examining each of the aforementioned topics. From a Farm Bureau perspective, we plan to engage with American Farm Bureau and members of the Trump team on these reviews and provide as much Nebraska data as we can. As you all know and as we regularly mention, international trade is vitally important to Nebraska agriculture. According to NEFB's annual trade report, Nebraska farmers and ranchers exported just under $10 billion worth of agriculture products around the world in 2022, a number four times greater than what it was in 2000. The value of agricultural exports now accounts for approximately 30% of the state's total agricultural receipts, and because of that, we plan to work as closely as we can with the President's team.

As with any issue, NEFB's elected leaders and staff look to the policy passed by our grassroots members to provide direction on the many issues that come our way. When it comes to trade, our policy is clear. We need to work with the Trump administration in an expediated fashion to find as many new trading partners as we can so we can continue to boost ag exports. At the same time, we also need to hold our trading partners accountable to ensure they are following through with the trade agreements they signed. There is no question that Nebraska farm and ranch families have greatly benefited from trade, and we will work hard to protect the gains we've made. It is clear the President is wasting no time is getting to work on the many things he promised throughout the campaign, and NEFB, as we always do no matter who wins any election, is ready to ensure the voices and opinions of Nebraska's farmers and ranchers are heard by our country's decision makers.