pork exports

**During a visit with Ag leaders in Cedar Rapids, Iowa last week, President Trump delivered an optimistic campaign-style speeches embracing farmers and ranchers as the “backbone of America.” The president has come under fire from rural Democrats for proposed cuts in his first budget outline and for lacking specifics about plans to deliver some of his ambitious plans...

**U.S. Ambassador to Equador, Todd Chapman met with U.S. Meat Export Federation officials last week to discuss market conditions in Ecuador and ideas for expanding U.S. beef and pork exports to that market. Ecuador reopened to U.S. beef in 2014 following a BSE-related closure that lasted more than 10 years with prohibitive tariffs on many imported food products, including a 45 percent tariff on be