The U.S. and the United Kingdom reached the framework of a trade agreement that included opening U.K. market access for American agricultural products. Dave Salmonsen, senior director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the new agreement is the first step in a much larger picture.

“This is, in a sense, the beginning of the end of all the things that the president has put out on tariffs since the beginning of his administration. A lot of it was meant to get countries to the table. U.K. stepped up. They’ve agreed to lower some of their barriers for agriculture. They’ve agreed to a 13,000 metric ton tariff-free quota for beef. They’ve agreed to go to a zero tariff on ethanol.”

Salmonsen says the White House has been busy meeting with other countries as well.

“I mean there are a lot of countries that are in D.C. negotiating with the administration now. Vietnam has been here a lot, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Argentina, many other countries. And, of course, we just had the news that a U.S. team led by the Treasury Secretary, Mr. Bessant, is going to Switzerland to start discussions with China.

He says this agreement demonstrates that the Administration is willing to negotiate in trade and tariff discussions.

“If you come up with a significant offer, if you’re another country, and you can say, all right, we’re going to reduce the tariff here. We’re going to reduce it here. We’re going to do something here. Then the U.S., those increased country-specific tariffs that the president proposed, they’ll deal on those. They’ll deal on the steel and aluminum. They’ll deal on the autos. They will deal in order to get your country to lower their tariffs. The U.S. will reduce or eliminate the tariffs that have been put on over the last few months.”

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