Johann's Confident Congress Will Approve CAFTA-DR 04/19/05 08:55
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OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA Secretary Mike Johanns is "confident" that Congress will approve the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. But the Washington Insider reported that if the agreement were to go down in defeat, Johanns said he "wouldn't want to be sugar interests who argued against the agreement which actually does no harm to the U.S. sugar program and is an overwhelming positive for U.S. agriculture."
Johanns said USDA "totally controls" the U.S. sugar supply and can "make sure that any CAFTA-related imports will not negatively impact" the operation of the U.S. sugar program.
Asked to respond to sugar industry concerns that CAFTA will just be a template for other free trade agreements (FTAs), Johanns said, "Every FTA stands on its own. And if U.S. sugar interests are concerned about future FTAs, they should come to see me. I had sugar interests in my state of Nebraska when I was governor. I will listen to their concerns."
Meanwhile, Johanns said he met with Senate Ag Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., last Wednesday about the agreement. "I know Senator Chambliss eventually wants to support this agreement," Johanns said. "And it is very important that the Senate Ag Chairman and someone as trade oriented and smart as Chambliss is, supports this agreement. I told Sen. Chambliss that we would continue to work with him and his staff to convince them that the CAFTA agreement would not negatively impact the sugar program or the 2002 farm bill implementation."
Printable Page
OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA Secretary Mike Johanns is "confident" that Congress will approve the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. But the Washington Insider reported that if the agreement were to go down in defeat, Johanns said he "wouldn't want to be sugar interests who argued against the agreement which actually does no harm to the U.S. sugar program and is an overwhelming positive for U.S. agriculture."
Johanns said USDA "totally controls" the U.S. sugar supply and can "make sure that any CAFTA-related imports will not negatively impact" the operation of the U.S. sugar program.
Asked to respond to sugar industry concerns that CAFTA will just be a template for other free trade agreements (FTAs), Johanns said, "Every FTA stands on its own. And if U.S. sugar interests are concerned about future FTAs, they should come to see me. I had sugar interests in my state of Nebraska when I was governor. I will listen to their concerns."
Meanwhile, Johanns said he met with Senate Ag Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., last Wednesday about the agreement. "I know Senator Chambliss eventually wants to support this agreement," Johanns said. "And it is very important that the Senate Ag Chairman and someone as trade oriented and smart as Chambliss is, supports this agreement. I told Sen. Chambliss that we would continue to work with him and his staff to convince them that the CAFTA agreement would not negatively impact the sugar program or the 2002 farm bill implementation."
