By RACHEL LANE

D.C. Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — USDA Under Secretary Ted McKinney has taken a positive stance on international commerce during World Trade Month.

Last week at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Summit, the under secretary for Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs said he thinks that updating the KORUS trade agreement with South Korea is basically done, but not finalized. NAFTA has moved forward and will probably be finished soon, but there are difficult issues still to address – specifically regarding the dairy industry in Canada.

And discussions with Japan regarding trade have gone well, with a strong relationship still in place between Japan and the United States. McKinney said the hold-up there is that the Japanese government wants the U.S. to rejoin the new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

President Donald Trump has made positive comments about rejoining the multilateral TPP in recent weeks, though he seems to speak more often in favor of bilateral agreements. McKinney said an agreement might end up being a hybrid of the two types of trade pacts.

The updates to NAFTA regarding technological changes, sanitary and phytosanitary, biotechnology and other issues that weren't a concern 25 years ago have already been positive, McKinney said. He hopes that dairy, specifically, can be addressed in the agreement, but said Canadian negotiators will put off that discussion as long as possible.

Trump has delayed implementing some of the tariffs he proposed, but concerns are still present in the U.S. agriculture industry, specifically in grains as sorghum prices fall and China looks to different countries for soybeans.

Last week, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture researchers projected a drop of at least $4.5 billion in soybean income if a 25 percent tariff is imposed. China accounts for about $22 billion in U.S. soybean exports. From 2000-16, Chinese soybean imports from the U.S. increased from $2.3 billion to a high of $40 billion. The growth was the result of an increase demand for livestock feed.

Brazil has increased production and partnered with Chinese companies, resulting in a gradual switch from Chinese preference for U.S. to Brazilian soybeans. In 2013, Brazil soybean exports to China surpassed U.S. imports.

At the same time, U.S. farmers have increased the number of acres of soybeans they plant. These producers are dependent on foreign markets and China is responsible for nearly two-thirds of global soybean imports, said UT professor Dr. Andrew Muhammad.

“If China places retaliatory tariffs on U.S. soybeans, there could be profound implications on U.S. soybean exports and farm-level losses for U.S. soybean producers,” he explained.

McKinney said most of the tariffs introduced by Trump seem to be aimed at China, but other countries are also being examined.

The United States has had open trade for years. If a country can prove a product is safe, the U.S. has few restrictions on allowing it to be imported. The tariffs and the reexamination of existing trade agreements is an attempt to “right-size” trade, McKinney said.

China is a tough market, he said, because the U.S. both imports and exports large amounts of products with China, but the Chinese have a history of taking U.S. intellectual property.

“I think you can talk to any sector of the American public and hear horror stories about how China has been cheating,” McKinney said. “The President said enough is enough. We've given away so much of our intellectual property that we've given an advantage to our competitor. We like competition – we like fair competition.”

At some point, U.S. and Chinese negotiators will have to sit down and discuss trade, he said. The U.S. will have a list of grievances and he's sure China will, too.

“I admire the patience and patriotism of the American farmer. I want them to know we appreciate their patience … when there are so many major trading partners that are being renegotiated,” McKinney said.

He knows farmers are concerned and frustrated, but he thinks the current agreements, by anyone's standards, aren't fair, free or reciprocal.

“If we choose the right or wrong time to do it, I don't know if there's ever a good time. But it is now, and I do hope if there's any short-term pain it's for long-term gain. I think the opportunities when we come out the other side, if it's done right, could be very significant,” he said.