Chief Ag Negotiator Says It’s “Time to Play Offense”

Greg Doud, Chief Ag Negotiator for the Trump Administration, recently returned from a trip to China and said it’s time to “play offense.”  During his career, Doud has been involved in Chinese discussions for more than 15 years.

He told AgDay TV at the World Pork Expo that it’s not going to be a fast process.  Doud said his most recent trip to China was productive, but it wasn’t a magic silver bullet to water down the trade fires between the two countries.

Doud said, “Even if we can make incremental progress on a trip like this, it’s worth it. It’s worth getting over there to interact in a market that’s very, very important to U.S. agriculture.”

Doud added that the trade issues between China and the U.S. related to steel have been brewing for decades and need to be handled.

“We have a president of the United States who stood up and said ‘this has gone on long enough,’” said Doud, “and I can tell you as a guy that’s been working on these issues in Washington, D.C., for 25 years, this needs to be addressed.”

Doud said he understands farmers are anxious about Chinese tariffs but the best thing now is to start playing offense.

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