Trump must ‘come to the table’ on NAFTA: Agriculture Secretary Perdue

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Monday said President Donald Trump must convince farmers he will “come to the table” and provide a revamped and modernized North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that will benefit American agriculture.

“Obviously, NAFTA has been generally good for American agriculture as well as Canada and Mexico and farmers understand that,” Perdue told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria.”

Perdue’s comments come ahead of President Donald Trump’s scheduled appearance at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s national convention, where he will address thousands of farmers and ranchers. Trump’s appearance at the event marks the first time in roughly 26 years that a sitting president has spoken at the event.

Furthermore, over the last four or five years, farmers have felt pressure over worldwide overproduction, Perdue said, pointing out how agriculture commodity prices are currently very low and hovering around breakeven prices.

“That puts a lot of stress on farmers’ incomes and farm families,” he added.

Perdue also discussed the future of the president’s proposed border wall.  In his opinion, Trump has effectively delivered his “vision” for border security.

“The president campaigned very strongly on a border wall. He was elected president, and I think it’s incumbent upon Congress to figure out how to get that done,” said Perdue.