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Dairy Coalition Leader Says Trade War Causing Irreparable Damage
USAgNet - 02/15/2019

The ongoing trade war is causing Mexican leaders to set aside American business connections that took decades to build as our neighbors to the south find new sources of cheese, butter and other products. That's the assement of Laurie Fischer, who is the CEO of the Wisconsin-based American Dairy Coalition. In an editorial sent to the media on Thursday, Fischer said Mexico imports nearly a quarter of the U.S. dairy industry's exports annually--making it a critical $1.4 billion marketplace.

"It's one that President Trump continues to risk damaging permanently and unnecessarily," Fischer wrote. "This should have changed in November when Trump declared success with his newly rechristened U.S.-Canada-Mexico Trade Agreement replacing NAFTA. In retrospect, it was a disingenuous statement: The administration has not lifted steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products, and in response those countries are refusing to sign the pact or lift retaliatory tariffs, impacting dairy products and other items."

She also quoted Sen. Ron Johnson in her piece, where he stated 'the longer this trade war goes on... the greater and more permanent the damage will be.'

Fischer adds that having won concessions from Mexico and Canada, the president now risks squandering those hard-fought gains, and thus wiping out thousands of agriculture-related jobs in the process.

"President Trump sells himself as a champion for agriculture," she penned. "However, a good general knows when the day is won and when to remove his troops from harm's way."

She says if Trump can't learn the same lesson, he may find few farmers willing, or able, to stand behind him during the next presidential election.


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