Despite recent large purchases, China is falling short of its Phase One trade commitments. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack made the statements to the Washington Press Club.
He said they could be doing more with biofuels, dried distillers grains, and dairy. He also said USDA is committed to export opportunities and deepening the presence of the United States in all of those markets.
“It’s not just overseas, it’s also here at home. Developing local and regional food markets is also an opportunity for us, particularly to help small and mid-sized producers, getting them away from a commodity market where they may not have much control over what they get for whatever they grow and raise and putting them into a local and regional market, where they are able to themselves develop a price, to be able to negotiate their own price, and perhaps make a better living from what they grow and raise,” Secretary Vilsack stated.
The Secretary said that better markets also mean open and transparent markets, including the opportunity for better price discovery.
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