Trump signed an executive order Monday that ends the U.S. role in the Trans Pacific Partnership. It involves Mexico, Canada, Japan and eight other nations around the Pacific Rim.
The new president has long complained that the pact would eliminate American jobs. But many business leaders say it would lower tariffs and other barriers to exports in agriculture, high tech and other sectors.
“Trade in food and farm products benefits both rural and urban areas of California,” said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, who grows walnuts and almonds west of Modesto. He noted that ag products are the top export through the Port of Oakland, which serves many of the nations under the pact.
Most of the California nut volume is exported. Foreign markets also bring income to the major wineries, dairy plants and tomato canneries in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
Congress had not voted on the TPP, which includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. They represent about 40 percent of world trade.
An emailed statement from Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, did not criticize the Republican president but did raise hopes for future trade pacts.
“I support trade that will benefit our U.S. economy, especially our ag community, and I look forward to engaging with our international partners to find an agreement that promotes Valley jobs and opens markets for our commodities,” Denham said.
The region’s dairy industry exports a large volume of the dried whey and lactose after cheese production. Drops in foreign sales have contributed to the low milk prices that often plague dairy farmers.
Wineries ship large volumes of bulk products, which has helped this business thrive in recent years. The Wine Institute, based in San Francisco, does not have a position on TPP but promotes exports in general, spokeswoman Nancy Light said.
“We will continue to advocate for any new trade agreements that help increase U.S. wine exports and grow the California wine industry, which is responsible for 786,000 U.S. jobs,” the group said.
The American Farm Bureau Federation provided the estimate for the increased California sales if the TPP were adopted.
“We operate in a world where it’s much easier for crops from other nations to enter the U.S. than for American farm goods to be sold elsewhere,” Wenger said. “We will encourage the administration to work on smaller-scale agreements that would allow American farmers to trade with other nations on an equal basis.”
Wenger also urged no change in agricultural parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, enacted two decades ago but also criticized by Trump.
Source: ModBee
Link: http://www.modbee.com/news/business/agriculture/article128557689.html
