WASHINGTON, D.C. – The largest farm group in the United States is
urging the Bush administration to end its strong dollar policy,
claiming it has hurt global demand for American agricultural goods.
Audrae Erickson, international trade specialist with the American Farm
Bureau Federation, said the group is “very concerned” that the
administration continues to support a strong U.S. dollar, which makes
American wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton more expensive overseas.
“We believe it’s important that the treasury secretaries from all
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(Group of Seven industrialized) countries recognize that the U.S.
dollar is overvalued and should at least make corrective statements to
that manner,” Erickson said.
On Jan. 23, the U.S. dollar was hovering at fresh three-year highs
against Japan’s yen. Japan is one of the world’s largest buyers of U.S.
farm commodities.
Bureau president Bob Stallman, a Texas grower, is expected to raise the
issue when he testifies at a Senate banking committee hearing on the
U.S. economy. U.S. treasury secretary Paul O’Neill has also been
invited to testify at the April 25 hearing.
The Senate panel hearing was originally scheduled for last October but
was postponed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
The AFBF does not have plans to meet with government officials on the
topic but Erickson said both the treasury and agriculture departments
were “aware of our concerns about this issue.”
The National Association of Manufacturers, which has previously allied
itself with the American Farm Bureau on U.S. dollar policy, met Jan. 18
with U.S. treasury officials to discuss the strength of the dollar.
The strong dollar comes at a particularly painful time for U.S.
manufacturers, who have been hit hard by the U.S. recession.
Manufacturing officials estimate the dollar is approximately 30 percent
overvalued against other currencies in trade-weighted terms.
Erickson said global demand for American farm exports was inextricably
linked to the value of the U.S. dollar.
Nonetheless, U.S. farm exports continue to outpace levels from a year
earlier. For the first 11 months of 2001, commodity shipments totalled
$49.11 billion, compared to $46.81 billion during the same period in
2000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
