Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins: 'Every Day We Are In Conversation With China' About Trade, Tariffs

Forbes Breaking News

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks to Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union."

Transcript

00:00Here with me now is Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Secretary Rollins, thank you so much for

00:06being here. I want to start with those falling economic numbers for President Trump in our new

00:11poll out this morning. He just hit the lowest approval on the economy ever, including his

00:16first term. Two-thirds of Americans roughly disapprove of his job on tariffs. What does

00:23this say about his economic strategy? Well, Dana, first of all, thank you so much for having me on

00:30again and really appreciate the time. So I think the first and most important thing that is really

00:37relevant to today is this president has never, ever governed by poll. And I just saw those same

00:44numbers, too, so I haven't had a chance to dig in. But the second thing is that every, you know,

00:48there are 100 different polls that say 100 different things. At the end of the day,

00:52President Trump is resolutely focused on ensuring that we are realigning the American economy to put

01:00Americans first. And again, he's never worried about this poll yesterday or that poll tomorrow.

01:05He has a vision, and I saw it working with him in the first term, see it again the second term,

01:10that we have to put America first. And as the Secretary of Agriculture, I have now seen firsthand

01:16how our products and our people are treated around the world. And it's just time to realign that.

01:22So that's what he's doing. And really, really, I think that we're really excited about what this

01:27means for the future, even if there's some uncertainty today.

01:30Well, you mentioned uncertainty, and I understand, you know, what you're saying about the polls.

01:35But what the new CNN poll and others like it reflect is uncertainty and also pain. And people are

01:45pretty upset and worried, concerned about their economic situation.

01:53Right. Well, I think there's a couple of things to note here. The first is this, that in the first

01:58100 days, which we're about to mark this week, I think, the first 100 days, there's been a 95%

02:04decrease in illegal border crossings. Number two, inflation has come down, even if just a little

02:10bit, but for the first time since the last Trump administration, so border security, bringing the

02:15cost of goods down. Number three, you know, law and order and arresting terrorists, 74 terrorists

02:22have been arrested in my world, in agriculture and making America healthy again. We've had a lot of

02:26accomplishments, energy, et cetera. That while we're talking about the economy, Dana, to your

02:31question, we are in that time of uncertainty. But the prices and costs for the average American

02:37consumer are on their way down, while at the same time, we've got $7 trillion that has been

02:44basically promised to reshore back into America for jobs, for Americans, et cetera, as we're realigning

02:51the government. So again, I believe that that poll is just one snapshot, perhaps, of one day that may

02:56not even be entirely accurate. But we, again, are convicted and resolute on this plan. We move forward.

03:03We've got a hundred countries that have, you know, approached us for retrading and trade

03:09renegotiations. And what that means for the American people is real certainty and real prosperity moving

03:16forward. So let's talk about that. I do just want to say, because during the 2024 campaign, the price

03:22of eggs got a lot of attention. They're now about $6 a dozen. So it's still pretty high. But let's look

03:29forward, Secretary Rollins. You said that there are, what, a hundred deals that are almost in the

03:34works. The president told Time magazine, quote, I have made 200 deals. He didn't give us any details

03:42about what those could be, what countries he's talking about. Has he actually inked any trade deals and

03:49with whom?

03:51Well, Dana, first of all, let me address the eggs, because that's an important point. So when we took

03:57over, when the president was sworn in, the price of eggs had increased 237% under the last

04:04administration. I mean, we obviously food under the last administration, the average increase

04:08was 25 to 30%, but eggs specifically. And I know I've got a bunch of kids in a big family and

04:14a lot of Americans are trying to feed their family. Eggs are so important to that. And as they're

04:18increasing that significant amount, that was, that was a big issue. The president jokes that on day one,

04:23everyone's yelling at him about the price of eggs. He's like, I just got here. But we unveiled a five

04:28point plan a little over a month ago. And you mentioned the numbers, but when you look at the

04:32wholesale cost of eggs, which drives the retail cost, the retail will follow soon. The actual

04:38wholesale cost of eggs is down 58% in the last six weeks. So other parts of the country, we've seen a

04:46significant decline in the retail cost. Some parts of the country, it has not followed yet, but it's

04:50coming. So I think that's an important point to make. Let's focus on the trade and on the deals.

04:55Yes, for sure. On the deals, we have 100 countries that are knocking on the door. I believe I'm not

05:01in the room. I'm not negotiating the trade deals. But my understanding is we should have several this

05:07week that are coming forward that are very, very close. China is a very important one. Every day we

05:13are in conversation with China, along with those other 99 hundred countries that have come to the

05:18table. Many countries have already flown to Washington and are meeting with Secretary

05:22Lutnik, meeting with Secretary Besson, meeting with our USTR, Jameson Greer. And there is a

05:28tremendous amount of progress on all fronts that we'll see again more this week. You said that

05:34there are talks with China every day. Who are the talks with and at what level? Because the Chinese

05:40are saying that's not true. Well, according to our team in Washington, the conversations are ongoing

05:48regarding multiples of trade. But here, multiples of the trade goods that are coming out and going

05:54in. But the bottom line with China is this. They need us more than we need them. They need our money.

06:00They need our markets. They need our consumers and all of the above. So the president has been,

06:05I believe, exactly correct. I mean, he is the ultimate dealmaker. You know, it's a time where

06:11we've got to hold China accountable. And in agriculture, year upon year, decade upon decade,

06:17our goods have been taken advantage of. The trade disparity, the non-trade bearers on top of the

06:24tariff numbers are insane, whether it's Argentina or China or Brazil or the UK. I could go country by

06:31country with you and just talk about how they treat our beef, what they do with our pork,

06:36how our soybeans are taken advantage of. And that's my world, right? The agriculture world.

06:40But it's true across all lanes of our industry. And on that note, I want to stick with your world

06:45of agriculture because you said China needs the U.S. But there are some indicators that they're looking

06:52elsewhere, specifically when it comes to farming. They dramatically cut back on buying U.S. soybeans,

06:58instead turning to Brazil and Argentina. China is planning to purchase less U.S. pork,

07:04down 72 percent in just a week. So at least in the short term, it is obviously hurting American

07:11farmers. What are they supposed to do now? Well, listen, the farmers, no one supports

07:17President Trump more than our farmers and ranchers in our rural communities. And you're right,

07:23our soybean farmers, some of our row croppers, some of our pork, et cetera. They certainly are

07:28being they're more in the crosshairs than a lot of our other agriculture industry. But for the most

07:32part, from every farmer I've talked to says, we understand this and we are with you. And we also

07:38know that President Trump will ensure that if there are significant economic damages, that just as in

07:43the first term under the China deal, phase one, that we will be the harm will be mitigated. And so

07:49we're already preparing for that. I don't think we're going to need it. But if we do,

07:52it will be there. But Dana, to answer your question, the bottom line is this.

07:56We are opening up and expanding markets across the world. I'll be in the U.K. I'll be in Vietnam.

08:02I will be in Japan. I will be in Brazil. I will be in Peru. This is all in just the coming months

08:07that in the last administration, we went from a zero dollar trade deficit when President Trump left

08:13for agriculture to an almost 50 billion dollar trade deficit after the Biden administration on

08:19agriculture. There just wasn't much effort around the world to open these markets up.

08:24J.D. Vance was just in India. We see them as a massive trading partner moving forward.

08:30You know, if we can come to the right resolution in the right terms.

08:32So you see there will be deals with other countries perhaps to make up for whatever

08:38the problems are with regard to China. It is going to be a new era of market expansion

08:47around the world. And our team is so committed to that. So I think we fix a lot of what's wrong

08:53with the China and the Brazil, et cetera. But we also open up new markets. I mean, people,

08:58countries are knocking on our door right now. They want our goods. Our agriculture products are the

09:03best in the world. They're the most productive. We feed not only our country, we feed the world.

09:07They're 100 percent safe. And so that's what a lot of these countries are asking for.

09:12And that's what our incredible team in Washington is moving toward.

09:15Before I let you go and Trump 1.0, when the farmers were hurting with the first round of trade

09:23negotiations with China, there was a bailout from the federal government. Will that happen again?

09:30Right. Well, we will ensure, first of all, the prayer is that that doesn't need to happen.

09:38But secondly, if it does for the short term, just as in Trump 1, we are preparing for that. I think

09:45it's important to note, though, that we won't really know the consequences really until harvest time,

09:50which will be later this summer, early in the fall. But we are watching it and analyzing it

09:54every single day. And we're preparing for it. I'm on constant conversations with our friends

09:59on the Hill, where the funding comes from. And everyone is committed to ensuring our farmers

10:04and our ranchers, which food security is national security. So it isn't just about protecting the

10:09farmers and ranchers. It's protecting the great American experiment and the American dream.

10:15Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, thank you so much for being here this morning. Appreciate it.

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