Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue seeks to ease farmers' anxiety about international trade

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Kyleah Dunn/ USA Today Network – Tennessee

NASHVILLE — The Trump administration’s agriculture secretary sought to reassure farmers anxious Monday over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

President Trump will produce the best deal for the U.S., Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told farmers gathered for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual conference here.

“I have great faith in President Trump’s skills as a negotiator, and I am quite confident that he will strike a deal that works best for the United States,” Perdue said in comments at Gaylord Opryland Resort Convention Center in a lead-up the president’s address later in the day.

Perdue also outlined portions of Trump’s plan to strengthen rural America and discussed results of the rural task force that the president established in April.

â–º Jan. 7: Trump to outline efforts to boost rural prosperity
â–º Jan. 7: Canada’s ag minister: If NAFTA’s not broken, don’t fix it
â–º Jan. 6: Farmers fret over disappearing profits, hope Trump will hear their concerns

Perdue, a former Georgia governor and chairman of the task force, said the group developed more than 100 recommendations to help improve life in rural America based on five areas: E-connectivity, quality of life, rural workforce, technology, and economic development. He is not related to the family that owns Perdue Farms poultry processing, a private company based in Salisbury, Md.

“While the task force worked tirelessly to identify solutions to the problems plaguing our rural communities, there is more work ahead,” Perdue said in a statement Monday before his remarks. “No doubt, rural America has struggled under burdensome regulations with no voice in Washington. But under President Trump’s leadership and with the work of this task force, we can turn that around and restore rural prosperity once and for all.”

Sen. Bob Corker will travel to Nashville with Trump aboard Air Force One
â–º Nov. 27: This beer could get more expensive if NAFTA is repealed

Perdue echoed these comments in an interview on the FOX Business Network’s Mornings with Maria show. Perdue said the president needed to let the farmers at convention Monday know he is supportive of a fair, free trade deal.

“Obviously NAFTA has been generally good for American agriculture, as well as Canada and Mexico, and farmers understand that,” Perdue said on the show. “They are also under a lot of duress over production worldwide over the past four or five years.

â–º Aug. 23: Trump risks backlash in farm belt states if NAFTA gets scrapped
â–º May 18: What NAFTA talks could mean for U.S. consumers and business

“Agriculture commodity prices are very low, and some break even or less than break even prices. And that puts a lot of stress on farmer’s incomes and farmers families,” he said.

“I think the president can convince them that while he’s a tough negotiator, he’s expecting Canada and Mexico to come to the table and have a renewed, modernized NAFTA that will be good for American agriculture,” Perdue said.

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