International tariff and trade negotiations are continuing with President Donald Trump and other world leaders.

Raccoon Valley Radio interviewed US Senator Charles Grassley, at a recent event, about his thoughts on how the trade talks are going, especially when threats of putting tariffs on soybeans and pork remain as  bargaining chips for foreign countries. Grassley wants to see the situation resolved without having to pull that trigger.

“If what I’m hoping doesn’t happen, then it’s going to be very detrimental to Iowa and we will be a loser in what’s going on right now. But this President is the first businessman to be President of the United States. What he was famous for, as a businessman, was negotiating and going to the ‘brink,’ that’s one of the tools of negotiating. If he doesn’t go over the brink, he can get fair trade for us. If he goes over the brink, it’s going to be bad for agriculture.”

US District 4 Representative Steve King, a free trade proponent, tells Raccoon Valley Radio he didn’t like the fact that President Trump put tariffs on steel and aluminum, but he felt it was a tactic to bring Canadian officials to the table to negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). By doing that, King says it also brought South Korea, the third largest exporter of steel to the United States, out of the woodwork.

“They came to the United States, hat-in-hand, to talk to the President about dropping the tariff off of steel and aluminum coming out of South Korea. In the bargain, they had the invitation from Kim Jong Un (Supreme Leader of North Korea) to negotiate the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Both politicians agree that President Trump has used these strategies to bring certain world leaders together, they both hope the trade negotiations will end without any repercussions to Iowa.