Perdue Says EU “Green Deal” Could Undermine Trade Talks with the U.S.

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue says the European Union’s recently-published EU “Green Deal” strategies could “undermine trade and affect the viability of EU farmers.” Perdue’s claim was immediately refuted by his EU counterpart. Euractive (Yuhr-ACTIVE) Dot Com says Perdue spoke during a webinar on the transatlantic perspective on food security in a post-COVID world last week. Perdue commended the EU for focusing on sustainability and expressed a strong desire to work with the European Union. However, he criticized the new food policy, which he says, “seems to have forgotten the ‘farm’ in ‘Farm to Fork.’” The EU says the new Farm to Fork policy is intended to improve the sustainability of agriculture within the bloc and shorten the distance between the farm and the end-user. Together with the new biodiversity plan, those two policies make up the heart of the EU Green Deal. Perdue also says EU farmers were being left without the tools they need to do their jobs, warning that it could make farmers there uncompetitive. If that happens, it could then lead to EU protectionism, something that could “do some real damage to the global trade environment.” However, the EU Ag Commissioner says the emphasis on reinforcing shorter supply chains doesn’t imply any new trade barriers, adding that the bloc “isn’t against and needs international trade.”