In a trade summit sponsored by AFL-CIO and the U.S. Business and Industry Council last week, Buis collaborated with business and labor organizations in an effort to stop the growing U.S. trade deficit. The industry leaders agreed current policy is detrimental to several segments of the economy. The panel agreed that WTO trade policy has created an uneven playing field and caused a record trade deficit. The current trade agenda has put American farms, businesses and workers in jeopardy by giving a competitive advantage to foreign producers.

“Across the board, in farming, technology, and manufacturing, American jobs are being outsourced and America’s dependency on foreign goods is increasing,” Buis said. He told the panel that increasing U.S. dependence on foreign food and fiber is a threat to national security.

“We don’t need to end up addicted to imported food, the same way we are currently addicted to oil,” Buis said.

NFU maintains that currency manipulation, labor standards, and environmental health and safety standards must be equal worldwide in order for domestic producers to be able to compete fairly on the global market.

This farm news was published in the July 19, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.