ELLENSBURG — While Washington’s farm economy is doing well, the director of the state Department of Agriculture says the Trump administration’s trade policies are a concern.
Derek Sandison said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal may hurt the state’s farmers.
Sandison says the withdrawal opens the door for China to step into the Pacific Rim trading arena, potentially squeezing the United States out.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that Sandison also hopes the federal government can work out an immigration policy to keep foreign farm workers coming to the state’s farms, orchards and fields.
Sandison says the current system for bringing in foreign workers can be cumbersome, as employers have to demonstrate that there are no American workers who can take the jobs.
