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Countries reach revised TPP deal

Ag groups are concerned about the impact of withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership on US agriculture. Kent Bacus with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the US missed an opportunity to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers.

“Specifically in Japan,” he says. “Japan is our largest export market and accounts for about a quarter of our exports, but we’re going to lose a  lot of that ground because we still face a 38.5 percent tariff on our product going in there going in there.”

Bacus says it puts US producers further behind by making them less competitive.

President Donald Trump withdrew from the trade negotiations in his first month of office in January 2017. The 11 remaining countries will reportedly sign the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in March.

The US Wheat Associates and National Association of Wheat Growers say the revised deal puts demand for US wheat at risk.

Gordon Stoner, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, says the news should serve as a rallying cry for farmers, ranchers, and dairy producers to get new trade deals that the administration said it would pursue.

Trump has also threatened to withdraw from NAFTA negotiations. Bacus, who is in Montreal for negotiations this week, says the last thing the US needs to do is take a step backward in relationships with Canada and Mexico.

The sixth round of NAFTA talks started Tuesday in Montreal.

The 11 remaining countries include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.