Trump held a roundtable in the White House on Monday with representatives of the farming and agriculture sector as well as key members of his cabinet, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins
Meryl Kennedy, who runs her family's agribusiness Kennedy Rice Mill in Louisiana, told Trump that rice producers in the southern part of the country are "really struggling' and that other nations are "dumping" rice into the US
When asked by Trump which countries are dumping rice into America, Kennedy, sitting next to the President, replied, "India, and Thailand; even China into Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for US rice. We haven't shipped rice into Puerto Rico in years"
Kennedy said that this has been happening for years and did not start during the Trump administration. "But unfortunately, we're seeing it in a much bigger way now," she said
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