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Vilsack addresses currency manipulation concerns

vilsack testifying 7-15

The National Farmers Union (NFU) says it will oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement because it fails to address the issue of currency manipulation by other countries.

But Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says, historically, currency manipulation has not been part of trade negotiations.

“There are mechanisms and processes by which issues involving currency manipulation can and have been handled,” Vilsack says, “and, in fact, we’re seeing those mechanisms being utilized by the Treasury Department and others to call out manipulation if they see it.”

NFU president Roger Johnson says that any gains that may have been made in the TPP agreement to ensure fairness and equity in trade for America’s farmers are likely to be lost due to currency manipulation.

But Vilsack disagrees with that notion.

“I will tell you that, from an agricultural perspective, the bottom line is pretty clear here—we’re going to sell more American agricultural products, across the board,” Vilsack says. “We’re going to sell it to an incredibly expanding—rapid expanding—middle class. And American producers and those whose jobs are connected to exports of American agricultural products are going to benefit from this agreement.”

Currency manipulation occurs when a country artificially devalues its currency, making it cheaper to produce or manufacture goods in that country and giving that country an unfair advantage in the global marketplace.

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