United States Representative Jackie Walorski will be in South Bend today attending a round table discussion over the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and other trade-related issues affecting Hoosier Farmers.
Yesterday, Congresswoman Walorski was in our neck of the woods and stopped by the WKVI studio where she touched on that agreement and the topics of trade and tariffs during the Charlie Adams Inspirational Morning Show.
Walorski mentioned that she has been in talks about trade for several months prior to the tariffs coming on due to Indiana’s 2nd District holding the status as one of the largest manufacturing districts in the nation.
She referenced some tariffs that came into the area that impacted the steel and aluminum industry which hit the state of Indiana hard, specifically manufactures of RVs, trailers and boats. Walorski noted that she played a key role in the effort to get those first round of tariffs repealed.
Despite that progress, Walorski said there’s still a long way to go. She stressed the importance of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) when it comes to Indiana’s agriculture and manufacturing partnerships within those two countries.
Through her involvement, she said has seen a lot of bipartisan support for the USMCA so she’s confident it will pass. However, Walorski said one question that remains unanswered is when the document will come before lawmakers for consideration.
Walorski explained, “Nobody knows when the bills coming down except for the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi so I would urge your listeners to reach out and call or get on the Speaker of the House’s website and get the phone number. Just echo in and say please bring that USMCA bill down.”
She continued, “It does help. Every communication that goes to Washington anywhere is counted and they know exactly where that information is coming from so I can tell you, on behalf of all of our manufactures and Ag in this district and in our state, we really urge them to call the Speaker and just very politely say please bring that bill down and it will pass.”
In addition to Congresswoman Walorski, today’s roundtable discussion in South Bend will include USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Bruce Kettler and Indiana Farm Bureau President Randy Krone as well as additional Hoosier Ag stakeholders.
