3rd District Congressman Adrian Smith once again serving on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, now as the chair.
Prior to his appointment last week, Smith discussed with KNEB News the importance of the work being done by the main panel on taxes and other issues, specifically the focus on trade for his subcommittee.
Smith said there’s been a lack of focus on trade the past few years, leaving the question of equal access to fester, especially when it comes to agriculture and foreign markets. “That’s a problem. You know, President Trump was acutely aware of this, and really leaned into the issue,” said Smith. “President Biden, has really just dialed down the efforts to really focus on trade through enforcing agreements, or updating agreements, or focusing on new opportunities for new agreements.”
After being named chair of the Subcommittee, Smith’s office issued a statement, in which he said “American consumers and producers are being forced to the sidelines of the global economy because of the Biden administration’s failure to put forward a proactive trade agenda. Trade has the potential to lower costs for American families, level the playing field for American products abroad, and expand opportunities for American small businesses.
“As chair of the Trade Subcommittee, I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure we use every trade tool at our disposal to tackle supply chain and inflation crises, open new markets for American producers, and hold both our trading partners and bad actors accountable. We must also immediately reauthorize MTB and GSP. Considering each program’s broad, bipartisan support, there is no excuse for further delay in getting this done.
“Trade has never been more important to consumers and producers – it’s past time for our work to reflect that importance.”
Smith, a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, also serves on the Health as well as Work and Welfare Subcommittees. He served as Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee in the 117th Congress. Additionally, he previously chaired the Subcommittee on Human Resources and was Ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.
