David Valadao

Coming from one of the most agricultural districts in the country, David was a leader in the dairy farming industry and has kept his commitment to agricultural advancement ever since. He also has spent a lot of time addressing the California drought which, obviously, has had a huge negative effect on farmers!

Back in May 2021, David noticed that Canada wasn’t exactly living up to its end of the dairy trade agreement. So he joined several colleagues in urging the US Agriculture Secretary to take immediate action to enforce Canada’s commitments per the USMCA trade agreement. Well, lo and behold, the new year greeted David with some validation, as a USMCA panel found Canada was in fact in breach of its obligations to the US dairy industry. David took his victory lap directly to those dairy producers in his district, saying “the panel’s landmark decision will allow American dairy farmers and manufacturers to enjoy the fair competition they are entitled to.”

One of David core issues is water conservation and we understand why… his district contains some of California’s most precious agricultural land. This year, David has introduced the Responsible, No-Cost Extension of Western Water Infrastructure Improvements Act, which extends many of the provisions and looks to keep much of the decision-making regarding California’s water in the hands of State officials who know their needs best. After many Democrats did not consider his bill, David took the floor to speak about how his bill addresses the effects of CA droughts on farmers. David also co-sponsored the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which revises the 2015 Water of the United States (WOTUS) rule that placed the majority of water in the U.S. under federal regulation, negatively affecting farmers, ranchers, and businesses.

Dumping occurs when a country or company exports a product at a price that is lower in the foreign importing market than the price in the exporter’s domestic market. In 2000, the Customs and Border Protections (CBP) were required to distribute to U.S. producers all anti-dumping duties. In 2014, it was revealed that distributions had not been made by the CBP. David introduced bipartisan legislation, the China Trade Cheating Restitution Act, to distribute delinquency interest collected on anti-dumping duties between 2000 to 2014 to domestic producers of goods subject to these duties. Hopefully the records show the right data and producers get paid!

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a major backup at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach. David, who represents the agriculture-rich central valley, did an interview to outline how that logjam is impacting farmers and food exports from his region. The farmers, he says, are sending trucks to the port and the trucks are being turned away. The backups raise prices for farmers which, in turn, raise prices for consumers. All in all, David is calling on the state and federal government to implement regulations at the port and encouraging politicians to communicate more effectively with port managers. At this point, anything that can be done should be done!