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A big week for TPP negotiators

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement could take a big step forward this week as top trade negotiators from the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries meet on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

By most accounts, TPP negotiators have narrowed their focus to a number of key issues and are under pressure to finalize a deal in the coming months.

The U.S. beef industry has a lot riding on those TPP talks, says Tracy Brunner, a cattle producer from Ramona, Kansas and president-elect of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

“It would allow us to level the playing field, if you will,” Brunner says. “To lower some trade barriers and allow greater access for our beef in those foreign markets.”

AUDIO: Tracy Brunner

Phil Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, calls Japan’s TPP concessions on U.S. beef “a game-changer”.

“Right now our competitors—basically Australia, which is our primary competitor—they have an advantage of ten percent basically on the beef duty as a result of an EPA, or Economic Partnership Agreement,” Seng says. “So the only way we’re going to narrow that gap, or level the playing field, is by having TPP.”

AUDIO: Phil Seng

Of the remaining TPP issues, one of the most contentious is the United States’ insistence that Canada reduce its barriers to dairy and poultry products.  According to Politico, Canada has not put a meaningful dairy market offer on the table, leaving U.S. producers to fear they could lose more from the final agreement than they gain.