Bill Clinton: “Let me tell you what I think I should do first. And let me remind you, when I came into office, I raised this issue. I…”

“Let me tell you what I think I should do first. And let me remind you, when I came into office, I raised this issue. I acknowledged it. Our Trade Representative embraced it. To send a signal to the Canadians that we were serious about this, we used the export enhancement program to give our own wheat an advantage down in Mexico. We also did it with barley. So I know this is a problem, and I've tried to send a clear signal to the Canadians that we intend to see it addressed. If you've been following this in the last few days, you know they've got some issues that they want to discuss with us, also, that don't have anything to do with the NAFTA agreement, but two-way trade agreement between the United States and Canada. So I have asked the Secretary of Agriculture to go up there, and before we take any further action, at least sit down face to face with the new government, hear them out, and have them hear us out. The reason I want to do that is because we do have, still, a significant trade surplus in agri- culture with Canada through bread, pasta, and other processed foods, including products that contain American wheat. I've always followed the policy that before I put another person I'm dealing with in a position of retaliating, at least they have to know where we're coming from and why. So I want the Secretary of Agriculture to go up there and sit down and try to work through this. But there is no question that when the last agreement was made several years ago with Canada, we did not reach to the subsidies that relate to their transportation and to the unique way in which the Canadian Wheat Board operates, which every wheat farmer in America now understands and which puts our folks in a difficult position. I will say again, on the NAFTA agreement, whatever you think about that, this is a net advantage to an American wheat farmer because it opens more products, more markets to American wheat. And so it'll certainly help, and it'll help to get the price up. Mike, do you want to say anything else about what you're going to do? [Secretary Espy said he would continue to work on those problems.]”