Republicans hammer USTR ag nominee over Biden trade deal 'moratorium'
Republicans pressed Doug McKalip to be an advocate within the administration for negotiating free trade agreements.
By Doug Palmer, POLITICO
07/28/2022
Senate Finance Committee Republicans ripped into the Biden administration's reluctance to negotiate tariff-cutting trade agreements at a hearing on Thursday to consider President Joe Biden's nominee to be chief agricultural negotiator.
“The administration is crystal clear that it prefers to not pursue real trade agreements in favor of something it calls frameworks, which lack crucial market access obligations," ranking member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said. "What is holding us back is ... a misplaced Biden Administration policy: a moratorium on new trade agreements, and limited enforcement of existing agreements."
A dad band fan is born: However, Crapo was far kinder to Biden's nominee, Doug McKalip, who currently serves as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's senior adviser for trade and national security. McKalip, who has held a number of positions at USDA and the White House over the last 30 years, recently helped resolve a longstanding potato trade dispute with Mexico, an issue important to Crapo and his potato growers back home...
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