China and Washington Trade

China and Washington Trade

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. It is imperative the U.S. and China reach a trade agreement and the sooner the better. That's the feeling from U.S.

Representative Dan Newhouse who says it's a trade relationship we need, but it needs to be the right deal.

The Sunnyside Republican says it's something producers here and across the nation are well aware of ...

NEWHOUSE ... "Almost on a daily basis, I'm talking to a lot of producers in Central Washington. Certainly, there's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of anxiety about our current situation. Cherry harvest is underway. Those Asian markets, the Chinese market is critical for us and we want those markets as soon as possible. I can say that as a producer and as a Congressman, we need to have those markets available to us."

Newhouse says our negotiators need to make it worth our wait because we don't want it to all be for nothing ...

NEWHOUSE ... "We want the situation to be better than it was before. We don't want to go through all of this pain with no gain. And so, we're hopeful that the administration, although we want it to be done as quickly as possible, we also want an improved situation, a better, more level playing field between certainly China and the United States, two of the largest economies on the planet, which will lead to improved trading relationships with all of our other trading partners as well."

Newhouse says Northwest growers rely heavily on exports to China, but China relies on us too. He says besides getting a deal worked out with China, Congress needs to ratify the USMCA as quickly as possible.

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BL: Welcome back for another "Fruit Bites" brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent's Allison Walston. And this week Allison, tell me what is mating disruption?

AW: Mating disruption is a term used for tricking insects into not being able to find each other, therefore disrupting their mating. For example, codling moth, the female moth gives off a pheromone to attract the male moths to her. If you put out mating disruption pheromone all over the orchard, the male moths get confused between the female moth and the fake pheromone source and can't locate her.

BL: Codling moth that's the "worm in the apple" and a serious pest, right?

AW: It is a serious pest. It chews its way inside the fruit. And without mating disruption, organic production would be nearly impossible.

BL: So do the males ever find the females?

AW: They might eventually. Delaying that hookup for just a few days is enough to reduce the likelihood of that codling moth egg from hatching.

BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I'm Bob Larson.

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