Moos Sees Challenges For Farmers

International trade agreements are making the world a single marketplace, and that’s giving the agriculture industry immense opportunities, a federal official said Wednesday during a trade discussion at the Pacific Northwest Agriculture Showcase.

“But a new set of challenges accompanies these opportunities,” said Eugene Moos, U.S. undersecretary of agriculture for farm and foreign agriculture services. He referred to the North American Free Trade Agreement and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

“We must make sure that we remain competitive, because these same opportunities are available to others around the world,” Moos said. “You and I know that despite the GATT, despite NAFTA, despite significant progress toward trade liberalization and increased market access around the world, we are still a very long way from a fair and level playing field in world market competition.”

Moos, a former Spokane farmer, was one of about a dozen panelists who spoke on opportunities and barriers in international trade during the fourth annual Ag Showcase, which opened Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome.

Chris Schlect, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, said international trade has become a given for agriculture.

“Going back to highly protected markets through the blunt tools of tariffs and quotas simply will not be allowed by the informed consumers of the developed free world,” he said.

Desmond O’Rourke, director of Washington State University’s International Marketing Program for Agricultural Commodities and Trade, agreed that international trade is necessary for the industry.

“Without exports, most growers in Washington state would not have made any profit in 1995, in 1994, in 1993, in 1992. I think you get the message,” O’Rourke said.

Luis de la Calle, a Mexican Embassy employee who was a NAFTA negotiator, emphasized the importance of Mexico being able to sell its products in the United States.

“Trade is a two-way street. The only way we can import to Mexico U.S. agricultural products is if we can export Mexican agricultural products into the U.S.,” de la Calle said.