During Tuesday’s Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) questioned Luke Lindberg, nominee to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, about exports in the U.S. agricultural industry.
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00:00Thank you both for your testimony. We'll begin now our round of questions. Each member will have
00:06five minutes. Before I ask my questions, I'd like to add letters of support from various farm groups
00:12for Mr. Lindbergh and Mr. Westfield's nomination into record. Without objection, so I'll order.
00:20Mr. Lindbergh, this year the U.S. agricultural trade deficit, as you mentioned, is projected to
00:26reach a record $49 billion. If confirmed, how will you work to ensure that the broader tariff
00:33negotiations being driven by USTR prioritize greater market access for U.S. agriculture exports?
00:42Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and appreciate the time we spend together discussing these various issues.
00:48If you ask many of my colleagues at South Dakota Trade or other people I've worked with in the past,
00:53you'll often hear them say that I believe exporting is a team sport and we must work together to
00:58accomplish the exact task that you're discussing today. For me, getting back to surplus would be
01:05my number one priority in this capacity. I believe that on day one I would walk into my office, draw
01:11the number negative $49 billion on the whiteboard, and begin to invite farm groups in from all across
01:16the farm economy to figure out where are the countries, where are the markets, what are the products,
01:22and what are those dollar values that get us back to surplus. And then I want to be an advocate
01:26in the interagency process to make sure that the folks at USTR, the folks at Commerce, the
01:31folks at Treasury all know and understand what those priority markets are, what those priority
01:36products are for our ag community members, and then we go out and start to win the day,
01:40go on the offense.
01:41So really in follow-up to that, if confirmed you will oversee the premier trade programs,
01:55the market access program, and foreign market development program, which again are so vital
02:02to our producers. Can you describe your experience with MAP and FMD and how you view their role
02:09in helping build, expand, and maintain markets for the U.S.?
02:13Happy to do so. Yes, sir. So in my role as president and CEO of South Dakota Trade,
02:19we have, as mentioned previously, led a number of trade missions overseas. In partnership with
02:24a group, the Food Export Midwest Program, which uses those funding programs, MAP and FMD, to support
02:30our agricultural producers overseas. We, on every one of those trade missions, also engaged
02:36the foreign agricultural service staff in country to set up meetings for us, to help
02:40guide our agendas, to get Governor Roden and other folks in the room with the right counterparts
02:47for bilateral discussions to help advance our ag community's needs in those specific markets.
02:53And so I would look forward to working with many of the staff and those programs that I've
02:56worked with in the past to execute on their mission. Very good. Mr. Westhill, based on
03:03your insights gleaned from previous experience in this role at USDA, what recommendations do
03:10you have to ensure that all USDA employees are treated with respect, that their civil rights
03:15are protected, and if violations occur, that individuals are not fearful of retaliation? Senator,
03:23thank you for the question. And first of all, I'll refer back to my opening statement. What
03:28we have to do is ensure at, at OSCAR, at USDA, the Office of this as the Secretary for Civil
03:34Rights, that its core complaint processing work is, is going well. Unfortunately, when I arrived
03:40at that office in the last term, we inherited quite a backlog of EEO complaints. What I want
03:47to make sure, and we rectified that as I mentioned, what I want to make sure is that if I encounter
03:52that sort of backlog again, that it's dispensed with very quickly, once again, within three
03:59months or faster, we have a history of being successful with that, we'd want to do that
04:04again. And I think that is, you know, the proof is in the pudding when it comes to that. Individuals
04:08at USDA will understand that their civil rights are going to be enforced, that the leadership
04:15is committed to that. And I think at the end of the day, what we want to do is ensure
04:20that folks understand their rights and responsibilities as well. So those proactive prevention techniques
04:24that I mentioned, training and so forth, ensure that those are in place as well.
04:30Very good.
04:30Very good.