The U.S. will insist the EU's inspection system complies with our food safety standards. As of April 1, as many as 100 EU processing plants now may be subject to U.S. inspections before their products may enter this country. Frankly, I'm disappointed a mutual agreement wasn't reached. It's hard to believe that negotiators were unable to recognize a common food safety criteria. I'm pleased the administration took a hard stand.
American farmers deserve to have foreign countries live up to their trade agreements.
And they also deserve to have their own government respond strongly when agreements are breached. While this particular stand-off plays out, I will work to make sure fair trade prevails.