Senator Dave McCormick visited Lebanon and Lancaster Counties on Monday.
PARADISE, Pa. — In one of his first extended visits to south-central Pennsylvania since his swearing in on Jan. 3, Senator Dave McCormick visited sites vital to the state’s agriculture sector, alongside the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
The Senator traveled with Secretary Brooke Rollins and members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to Talview Dairy and Martin’s Family Dairy Farm in Lebanon County, along with the Bank of Bird-In-Hand in Lancaster County to tout the state’s agriculture industry.
McCormick, a Republican, condemned the arson attack against Governor Josh Shapiro and his family early Sunday morning.
“I had, ironically, talked to him earlier in that day, and he was anxious,” McCormick said. “He was nervous because he was going to preside over an 80-person Seder at his home. There’s no room in our society for violence against public officials, and it’s a horrific thing. I’m glad the person apparently was apprehended, and I look forward to his prosecution.”
McCormick commented on the uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s changing tariff agenda. With sectors such as dairy reliant on exports, McCormick preached patience with the president in his goal to bring new investment to America.
“There is some uncertainty around the tariffs, and we’re working through that,” McCormick said. “But, there’s an enormous amount of certainty that the wind is at the back of every small businessman [and] every farmer.”
Rollins also responded to tariff concerns by citing what she believes is unfairness in Canada’s tariffs of more than 200% on dairy products after a quota of sales is reached, despite that quota having been negotiated by the first Trump administration during his first term as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“Once you hit that small quota from Canada, they start implementing a 250, 280 [or] 300% tariff on our dairy producers,” Rollins said. “This is not okay.”
The 2018 agreement included an increase of 50,000 metric tons of milk over six years exported to Canada and 12,500 metric tons of cheese, among other items.
Rollins says her department is ready to assist farmers affected by the tariffs similar to 2019, when the first Trump Administration sent more than $23 billion to farmers to make up for losses following that administration’s trade war.
“We are putting some ideas, thoughts and plans behind a similar program, if it will be necessary,” Rollins said. “We won’t know for a couple of months what that will look like and if it is necessary, but if it is, we will be prepared for it.”