Thread: Trump Boasted To Farmers He Opened European Market. Europe: No, He Didn’t.

Trump Boasted To Farmers He Opened European Market. Europe: No, He Didn’t.

Other than soybeans, agricultural products are off the table, the European Commission says.

By Mary Papenfuss
POLITICS 07/27/2018 11:47 pm ET Updated 7 hours ago

President Donald Trump said in Iowa on Thursday that he just opened up the European market to U.S. farmers. One problem: Europe disagrees.

“We’re opening things up,” Trump said in Dubuque (video above). “But the biggest one of all happened yesterday ... the EU .... We just opened up Europe for you farmers. You’re not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you. You were essentially restricted. You had barriers that really made it impossible for farm products to go in ... you have just gotten yourself one big market that really essentially never existed.”

The European Union’s take was very different.

“On agriculture, I think we’ve been very clear on that — that agriculture is out of the scope of these discussions,” European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told reporters in Brussels on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Other than what is “explicitly mentioned” in the agreement, “we are not negotiating about agricultural products,” she said.

“When you read the joint statement ... you will see no mention of agriculture as such; you will see a mention of farmers and a mention of soybeans, which are part of the discussions, and we will follow up [on] that,” Andreeva added.

Trump’s boast appears to be an overselling of the agreement he reached with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, which was announced at the White House on Wednesday. The men agreed to a truce in the confrontation over trade while the two sides negotiate toward common goals. Those include “zero tariffs” and to “reduce barriers and increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, as well as soybeans.”

Trump hailed it as a “breakthrough agreement,” while Juncker said it was a “good and instructive meeting.”

The U.S. “heavily insisted to insert the whole field of agricultural products” in the negotiations, Juncker later told reporters, according to the Journal. “We refused that because I don’t have a mandate and that’s a very sensitive issue in Europe.”

But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told a Senate committee Thursday that “we are negotiating about agriculture, period.”

In Dubuque, Trump described the agreement as “no tariffs, no nothing, free trade.” He said he told the Europeans: “Do me a favor: Would you go out to the farms in Iowa ... would you buy a lot of soybeans right now?”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0de86f4974cd2

So, lets boil this down to the nuts and bolts.

They have to buy soybeans from our farmers.

They have to buy LNG from our energy sector.

We keep our steel and aluminum tariffs in place during "talks".

We don't have to buy anything from them.

See? This is why we can't lose a "trade war".

WIN on Soybeans.

WIN on LNG.

WIN on steel and aluminum tariffs by agreement.

That's a WIN, WIN, WIN.

Not bad for a 2 hour sit-down with Jean-Claude at our place, and Trump didn't even have to gas up Air Force One to get it.

“We’re opening things up,” Trump said in Dubuque (video above). “But the biggest one of all happened yesterday ... the EU .... We just opened up Europe for you farmers. You’re not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you. You were essentially restricted. You had barriers that really made it impossible for farm products to go in ... you have just gotten yourself one big market that really essentially never existed.”

Hmm, rather strange the above is coming from someone who has made calling the news media "fake news" a trademark of his.

The U.S. “heavily insisted to insert the whole field of agricultural products” in the negotiations, Juncker later told reporters, according to the Journal. “We refused that because I don’t have a mandate and that’s a very sensitive issue in Europe.”

Originally Posted by MW

Hmm, rather strange the above is coming from someone who has made calling the news media "fake news" a trademark of his.

So you take every word from Huffington Post as fact, your bible? Once in a while they inadvertently print some truth!

Originally Posted by jtdc

So you take every word from Huffington Post as fact, your bible? Once in a while they inadvertently print some truth!

Huh? Not really understanding what the intent behind your comment is. I didn't say anything about Huffington post or a Bible. My comment was based on direct quotes, not the article they came from. It's hard for any print news media to mess up a direct quote. It happens, but it's rare.

My obvious implication is, Trump is thumping his chest and throwing out fake news like it's fact. IMO, it's rather strange seeing someone who accuses everyone else of using "fake news" throwing it out there himself. Trump has a history of boasting on things that, under closer scrutiny, aren't always as they seem.

Originally Posted by MW

Huh? Not really understanding what the intent behind your comment is. I didn't say anything about Huffington post or a Bible.

That's who the article came from. You/they can selectively quote to push an agenda.

You wrote

Hmm, rather strange the above is coming from someone who has made calling the news media "fake news" a trademark of his.

It's all politics. They try to spin it as a negative, so he counters with a positive spin.

Keeping the trade going is equivalent to creating trade if it would be lost. I have a problem with long term investments. When a company buys a plot of land then plans building a new McDonald's over five years, I don't have that much patience. I want to build and reap profits withing a year. I fear I would be dead by time such a project gets profitable. Likewise, many of these trade deals are about the future. I heard today the China invested in about 3 months extra soybean purchases as an insurance to the upcoming increase in their cost for soybeans.

The EU agreed to future agreements that would benefit American farmers. That's better than the threats to boycott.

Originally Posted by MW

IMO, it's rather strange seeing someone who accuses everyone else of using "fake news" throwing it out there himself. Trump has a history of boasting on things that, under closer scrutiny, aren't always as they seem.

It's the "art of the deal". When you negotiate, you may start with a ridiculously high offer which may be met by a ridiculously low offer. The result ends up being somewhere between those two. So far this seems to be working for President Trump, and America is benefiting from it. Of course the left-wing media and the left-wing don't want President Trump to succeed because they want to be in power. And his success delays their regaining power. So they publish fake news, and President Trump matches them with fake news. The truth just doesn't sell as well as slinging mud.