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NPPC calls for bilateral trade agreements

A trade analyst says the United States should pursue bilateral trade agreements.

Trade analyst Maria Zieba with the National Pork Producers Council says the council will be calling for the U.S. to pursue bilateral trade agreements with other countries. Specifically with Japan which is the largest buyer of pork in the world, as well as other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

She says the council will also be calling for a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom, which is a smaller market but can help to establish US based pork standards and open up access to the European Union, however such an agreement would be several years away.

Zieba told attendees at the 2017 Ohio Pork Congress in Columbus exports account for 25% of total pork production in the United States, and the North American Free Trade Agreement specifically accounts for 40 percent of all U.S. pork exports. She says the TPP agreement would have been a boon for US pork producers as it would have opened market access and increased market share among member countries.