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Feenstra Helps Introduce Legislation Requiring the Biden Administration to Hold Foreign Countries Accountable for Violating U.S. Trade Laws and Distorting Agricultural Commodity Markets

October 2, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) helped introduce – alongside U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Frank Lucas (R-OK), and Austin Scott (R-GA) – the Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act. This legislation would establish a joint task force between the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture charged with identifying export opportunities for American agriculture and dismantling tariff- and non-tariff trade barriers perpetuated by foreign countries.

“President Biden has abandoned and punished our farmers on every front imaginable. His new WOTUS rule invites federal bureaucrats to saddle Iowa farmers with costly red tape, his electric vehicle mandates threaten the vitality of our biofuels industry, and his economic agenda jeopardizes longstanding provisions in the tax code to strengthen Iowa agriculture. Even worse, he has no interest in negotiating new trade agreements that would expand our export capacity or holding foreign countries – like Mexico and Brazil – accountable for their unfair trade practices,” said Rep. Feenstra. “I’m proud to work with my colleague, Rep. Rick Crawford, to introduce legislation to create a joint task force between the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA to identify export opportunities for our farmers and develop real strategies to eliminate unfair trade practices. Serving on the House Ways and Means Committee – which oversees U.S. trade policy – I will continue to leverage my voice to enforce our trade laws, hold our trading partners accountable to our rules-based trading system, and ensure that Iowa farmers have a seat at the table in global markets.”

This summer, Feenstra voted for, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, and President Biden signed into law the United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act. This legislation would establish the first-ever bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Taiwan and codify into law explicit congressional approval of any future trade agreement with any nation.

You can find legislative text for the Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act HERE.

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Issues:Agriculture