U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith speaks at Hastings College

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Washington came to the Tri-Cities, as Nebraska Congressman Adrian Smith paid a visit to Hastings College. The U.S. Representative spoke and answered questions on the topic of world affairs.

Smith fielded questions about immigration, the war in Ukraine, and the essence of trade. Smith also had his own take on Mexico refusing to accept corn from the United States.

“Very concerned,” Rep. Adrian Smith said. “The fact that Mexico has even tried this I find troubling. The fact that President Biden hasn’t said a word about it from the state, I’m concerned. But we do have this call a fallback mechanism, for what is called dispute resolution. It can be cumbersome but it is a process.”

Smith said the process will be used if needed because Mexico is violating trade agreement terms.

“I’ve wondered why he hasn’t,” Smith said. “You know he’ll travel the highway to talk about E-15, that’s good I’m glad for that. But it would be far more impactful I think if he would just talk about it and say what Mexico is doing with our corn should not be tolerated.”

Smith said he’s continuing to encourage the President to engage more on trades.

“As a member of the Legislative Branch it’s important, we ultimately approve trade agreements,” Smith said. “The negotiation of trade agreements historically has been from the administration, from the Executive Branch. I’m doing a lot of work to encourage the President to engage more on trade because it is vital.”

Smith said trade is important, especially in Nebraska; and he’s inspired by Nebraska’s involvement in trading.

“Rules based trade is what is so key,” Smith said. “What Mexico is wanting to that would shutout our corn it should not be accepted, and other countries understand this too.”

Smith said the trade rules in place is why the United States can’t let the issue go unaddressed.

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