On the first day that members of the Senate could introduce bills in the 106th Congress, U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Dick Lugar today introduced a bill that would end sanctions on food and open markets for U.S. agricultural products. Trade will be at the top of the Agriculture Committee agenda this year. For U.S. agriculture to be profitable, a third of our agricultural production needs to be exported.
Farmers rely on the ability to export.
A cardinal test of foreign policy is to determine that, when we use sanctions internationally, our actions do less harm to ourselves than to others. This bill aims at opening foreign markets and eliminates unfair and negative trade policy. The legislation would require that agricultural products be exempted from U.S. unilateral economic sanctions. The President would retain emergency authority to override the exemption but would have to justify his decision to Congress. The bill would establish a Congressional Oversight Group on agriculture trade issues to consult and advise the U.S. Trade Representative for future WTO and other multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations.