President Trump signed executive order Revitalize Agriculture and Promote Rural Prosperity in America on Tuesday. The order establishes an interagency task force aimed at identifying and eliminating unnecessary regulation in the agriculture sector. The President said his new order will increase American farmers’ ability to compete on an international level.
Trump unveiled details of his plans to revitalize economic growth in the agriculture sector in a meeting with a roundtable of 15 farmers, including president of the American Farm Bureau Zippy Duvall and recently confirmed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.
“With this order, I’m directing Secretary Perdue to work with other members of my Cabinet to identify and eliminate unnecessary regulations that hurt our nation’s farmers and rural communities,” Trump said.
Chaired by Secretary Perdue, the task force will report back to the President in 180 days with an assessment of which regulations on agriculture hinder “economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America.” In addition to identifying areas of over-regulation, the interagency task force will look at rural development issues such as housing, broadband access, and utilities.
The president also used the meeting as an opportunity to weigh in on a recent trade dispute between Wisconsin dairy farmers and Canada. U.S. farm groups say a newly established Canadian policy all but blocks exports of dairy from the American side of the border. Last week the president promised he would intervene on behalf of American farmers. In the meeting on Tuesday, Trump said “everyone thinks of Canada as being wonderful, and so do I. I love Canada. But they’ve outsmarted our politicians for many years, and you people understand that.”
Trump’s comments are part of his larger plan to take a firm stance on trade with Canada. The Commerce Department also imposed a 24 percent tariff on softwood lumber entering the United States from Canada on Tuesday.
