FLASH BRIEFING

Trump to visit Austin for Farm Bureau’s annual convention

Nicole Cobler / ncobler@statesman.com
Donald Trump greets Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick follows at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Nov. 20, before his visit to the Apple campus. [JAY JANNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]

President Donald Trump will speak at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention Sunday in downtown Austin.

The event, which Trump will headline for the third consecutive year, will be held at the Austin Convention Center, the organization announced in a news release Monday.

“The American Farm Bureau is honored President Trump will return for a third consecutive year to speak with farmers and ranchers who work tirelessly to produce the quality food and fiber our country needs,” the group’s president, Zippy Duvall, said in a statement. “We are grateful that he has made agricultural issues a priority and look forward to welcoming him to Austin at a time when there is much to talk about, from trade progress to important regulatory reforms.”

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., also are scheduled to attend, according a news release on the Farm Bureau’s website.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump likely will tout trade deals with China, Mexico and Canada as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement awaits a Senate vote. The trade pact is viewed largely as a 21st century update of the North American Free Trade Agreement, rather than a complete rewrite.

The Texas Farm Bureau praised the USMCA after the U.S. House passed the measure in a bipartisan vote in December, calling it “a victory for Texas agriculture when farmers and ranchers need it most.”

And Trump’s appearance at the gathering comes on the heels of a limited trade agreement with China after a nearly two-year-old trade war.

The U.S. trade war with China rattled Texas businesses and farmers throughout 2019.

"China went from the second-largest market for U.S. agricultural products to the fifth-largest since the trade war began. Reopening the door to trade with China and others is key to helping farmers and ranchers get back on their feet," Duvall said the day after the China deal was announced in December.

The Trump administration offered a $16 billion aid package in May for farmers affected by the trade war.

Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said the group was encouraged by the initial agreement with China in December.

“This is excellent news for Texas farmers and ranchers. We are hopeful the Phase One agreement creates positive momentum toward the completion of further trade agreements with China in the near future,” Boening said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party on Monday called Trump’s visit a political move as he tries to appease farmers’ worries about the trade war with China.

“After making seven visits to Texas in 2019 and making another early in 2020, team Trump is clearly terrified of losing Texas,” Texas Democratic Party spokesman Abhi Rahman said in an email. “Trump’s failed policies, trade wars, and broken promises to Texas workers, farmers, and families are why he will lose.”

A number of Democratic presidential candidates have intensified their efforts in Texas, where Democrats are hopeful that the state could flip from red to blue.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped in Austin on Saturday as part of a tour through Texas, his third trip to the state as a candidate.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont also have ramped up their efforts in the state.

Warren’s campaign opened an Austin office in December and announced that it has hired more than two dozen full-time staffers and organizers across the state.

Trump’s visit on Sunday will mark his second trip to Austin in less than two months.

Trump toured a Northwest Austin computer plant in November to celebrate Apple Inc.’s expansion in Central Texas.

Apple CEO Tim Cook led the tour of the Fextronics plant where Mac Pro desktop computers are assembled after the company abandoned plans to shift that production to China after receiving federal tariff exemptions.

Trump was joined by his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.