Trump praised for beef trade deal with China

A Montana newspaper published an article praising the Trump administration for having negotiated a deal that will result in about $2.5 billion in beef sales to China.

The Great Falls Tribune reported that starting in July “for the first time in about 14 years, U.S. cattle producers will have access to that market.”

China, along with many other countries, halted U.S. beef imports after cattle in this country tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which destroys the brain and central nervous system of infected cattle. Humans who eat nerve tissue of infected cattle can get variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, which is fatal.

While other countries lifted their U.S. beef bans, China has remained off limits, until now.

The Obama administration had tried, unsuccessfully, in 2012 to get beef into China. The US-China Agricultural Symposium was touted as a way to return America to being the breadbasket of the world.

The persistence of many paid off and now Montana ranchers and our state’s economy will benefit.

President Donald Trump is accomplishing much that team Obama was unable to complete. He brought home Otto Warmbier and now has opened China up to American beef. Those in the cattle industry are understandably thankful.

Trade deals are long and complicated. China’s ban on U.S. beef imports meant that the entire time former Montana Sen. Max Baucus was the Ambassador to China, from 2014 to earlier this year, he could not get a steak from a U.S.-raised cow in China.

The persistence of many paid off and now Montana ranchers and our state’s economy will benefit.

He’s making better trade deals, creating American jobs, getting better results from hostile regimes and dealing strongly with America’s enemies. In a sentence, he’s delivering on his campaign promises.