Leaders from across the U.S. agriculture and food sector have continued to express their optimism and confidence in the newly reached Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
On Oct. 5, trade ministers from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam concluded negotiations for the TPP – one of the largest trade deals in recent history.
For the U.S. food and agriculture sector, which has remained a bright spot in the country's economy for the past seven years, TPP would create more American jobs and drive the nation's rural economy. U.S. agricultural trade with the 11 TPP countries accounted for 42 percent of U.S. agricultural exports in 2014, contributing $63 billion to the U.S. economy.
U.S. agriculture supports about one in 11 American jobs, while agricultural trade supports more than 1 million U.S. jobs and contributes a trade surplus to the nation's economy, benefitting rural communities and keeping U.S.-grown products in high demand around the world. TPP will remove unfair trade barriers and help further the global expansion of American agricultural exports, particularly exports of meat, poultry, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains, oilseeds, cotton and processed products.
As food and agriculture groups continue to review the final agreement, they expressed their support. Below are some of their statements.
Statement by Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership
"The Trans-Pacific Partnership has promised to open restricted markets for American business around the Pacific Rim. The American Farm Bureau Federation looks forward to reviewing the details of the agreement reached today to guarantee it fulfills that promise for the nation's farmers and ranchers.
"We hope the agreement will bring a more level playing field for farmers and ranchers by reducing tariffs and removing nonscience based barriers to trade. The agreement covers markets that are expected to grow rapidly for decades to come. We expect to see increased access for our agricultural products, particularly some meats.
"We commend U.S. Trade Representative Froman and Chief Agricultural Negotiator Vetter for their longstanding support and determination to reach an agreement. Now it is up to us to figure out exactly what we have and how we should work with Congress to improve international market opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers through the Trans-Pacific Partnership."
Dairy Processors thank U.S. trade officials for efforts on TPP
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) released the following statement upon the announced conclusion of the TPP negotiations.
"IDFA thanks U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator Darci Vetter and the entire U.S. interagency negotiating team for their hard work in bringing the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations to a close," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president. "We look forward to reviewing the agreement's dairy provisions as they become available." PD
—From USDA news release
