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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Jerry Moran this week met with President Bush in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss trade policy. The President requested the meeting to discuss Moran’s views on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will be voted on next week in the House of Representatives. During the meeting, Moran told the President of his concerns with U.S. trade policy.
“While it is good to lower the tariffs that U.S. exporters of manufactured goods and agricultural commodities face selling to foreign countries, our trade policy has to be more than just entering into trade agreements,” Moran said to the President. “Time and time again, even after tariff reductions are agreed to, many of our trading partners find excuses to limit sales of our products coming into their country. They cannot have it both ways - their products coming into our country, and our sales restricted.”
During the meeting with the President and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, the group also discussed the need to allow the sale of food and agricultural commodities to Cuba and the continued ban on American beef by Japan and South Korea.
In July of 2001, Moran offered an amendment that led to opening the market for U.S. farmers and ranchers to sell to Cuba food, medicine and agricultural products. Since that time, Cuba has purchased $1.4 billion in agricultural commodities. However, recently, the U.S. Department of Treasury has created additional restrictions on sales. Moran has been a leading critic of the Administration’s efforts to stop sales to Cuba.
Since December 2003, the U.S. has lost more than $2 billion in sales of U.S. beef to Japan.
“I told the President that the most important trade issue to Kansas’s First District is reopening U.S. beef sales to Japan and South Korea,” Moran said. “The First Congressional District produces nearly five billion pounds of beef annually, making it the largest beef producing congressional district in the nation. The President must continue to exert every pressure possible on the Japanese and South Korean governments to reopen their borders to U.S. beef and meat products.” |
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