Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Montana’s Sen. Max Baucus said Wednesday he does not know for certain if Vietnam will increase trade with the United States in crops raised in Montana, but that the country’s officials have been receptive to his talking about those issues. “I do feel strongly they will go in that direction,” he said in a telephone press conference from Hanoi. Baucus is in the middle of a nine-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam to discuss trade relations. He said some barriers to agricultural crops now include Vietnam not accepting beef 30 months or older, and high tariffs on pulse crops like peas and lentils. Baucus also is discussing with Vietnamese officials, this week, an education exchange agreement signed by the Vietnamese and the University of Montana which will exchange students and faculty between UM and the Vietnamese education system. “I raised beef everywhere I went, I raised lentils and I raised education everywhere I went,” he said. He said the education agreement could be very beneficial to both Vietnam and Montana. “That will be very helpful. They want that,” he said. “The education system needs a lot of help here.” He said increasing the agricultural trade will directly benefit Montana and its agricultural producers, and could be a first step in increasing agricultural trade in the region. Many countries banned importing U. S. beef after a few cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, were discovered in U.S. cattle. The disease has been linked to causing the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. While some countries have loosened their restrictions on importing U.S. cattle, allowing cattle younger than a Certain age to be imported, the Asian market is still very tight. Baucus said Vietnam could be a leader in resuming more normal beef trade with the United States, which would directly benefit Montana ranchers. Increased imports by Korea could lead to loosening restrictions in countries like Japan, which will only take cattle younger than 20 months, and China, which will not import U.S. beef at all, he said. “My message to (the Vietnamese officials) was, you can open up, there is no scientific reason not to and you can be a real leader,” Baucus said. The trade could be very good in Vietnam, he added, where beef is a popular dish but is not raised in the country. He said that there is no time line being discussed for increasing agricultural trade with the United States. “There are never any indicators,” Baucus said. “They don't want to admit in meetings like this that they want to (change trade) or admit to a time frame.” He said the Vietnamese seem to like Montana, especially since Baucus worked to gain admission to the World Trade Organization for Vietnam and also is working to normalize trade relations between the country and the United States. Baucus said the Vietnamese officials are good to work with, which may seem surprising considering the hostile relations the United States had with their country in recent decades. “They like America,” he said. “They are open, they are good to work with. They are strong allies, strong with our country.”
