Donald Trump talked about trade today:
Greeted by supporters chanting "build the wall" as well as protesters, Donald Trump rallied thousands in Nebraska.
Trump spoke for about 35 minutes, highlighting issues like trade and immigration.
He made a point of saying he tailored his message for Nebraska, talking about agriculture.
"Who the hell else likes ethanol but Trump," he said.
He also talked about Japan's high tariff on beef, a major export product for Nebraska. He said he would get rid of those.
Let's see, what would be a good way to reduce Japan's beef tariffs? Oh, right, the TPP (which Trump opposes). This is from USDA:
Japan is the United States' top export market for beef and beef products, with sales totaling $1.6 billion in 2014. The TPP agreement will dramatically reduce tariffs on U.S. beef. Japan will eliminate duties on 74 percent of its beef and beef product imports within 16 years, with substantial cuts to the remaining tariffs.
Japan will reduce its tariff on fresh, chilled, and frozen beef cuts from the current applied tariff of 38.5 percent – which can be as high as 50 percent under WTO rules – to 9 percent in 16 years. Tariffs on beef offal (including livers and tongue), which are currently as high as 21.3 percent, will be eliminated in six to 16 years, in some cases with an immediate 50-percent cut in the tariff rate. Tariffs on processed beef products (including beef jerky and meat extracts), currently as high as 50 percent, will be eliminated in six to 16 years.
Hopefully it won't come to this, but I would really love to be there when someone explains to a President Trump how trade negotiations and trade deals work, and what's in the current ones.