U.S. Trade Expert To Join Crapo Ag Trade Forum

Washington, DC - The Deputy Administrator for International Trade Policy for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) will join an agricultural trade forum sponsored by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo later this month in Boise. Patricia Sheikh will join Crapo at the Boise meeting on Wednesday, March 17th. That gathering caps a three-event schedule that began in Lewiston February 14th and continues this Saturday in Twin Falls. The Twin Falls trade forum begins at 2:00 p.m. this Saturday afternoon, March 6th, in the Taylor Room at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.Crapo is holding the agriculture trade forums amidst several developments related to farm trade, the latest of which comes from the European Union (EU). EU leadership announced this week that it is planning sanctions on U.S. goods, including farm products in retaliation to actions relating to export subsidies. The Bush Administration is continuing to work with beef producers to reopen markets in Canada, Mexico, and in other countries that have blocked imports of American beef since the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Washington State.Sheikh has considerable experience in agricultural trade. Before her appointment as deputy administrator at the Foreign Agricultural Service, she was the director of the FAS Trade Policy Division for Asia and the Americas, beginning in 1993. Prior to that, she managed and worked in several divisions of FAS relating to grain trade, cotton, tobacco, and seeds.â??Deputy Administrator Sheikhâ??s participation in this forum is welcomed and valuable,â?? Crapo said. â??She has tremendous experience in agricultural trade and it will be a great opportunity for her to hear directly from Idahoans on issues affecting farm trade.â?? Crapo attended both the Seattle and Cancun sessions of the WTO as a U.S. delegate, and has been involved with farm trade issues throughout his tenure in Congress, as a member of the House Agriculture and the Senate Agriculture Committees. â??These trade forums are an excellent tool to discuss ways in which we can make improvements in trade for the betterment of American agriculture and I look forward to visiting with Idahoans this weekend in Twin Falls and later this month in Boise,â?? Crapo added.# # #