Industry Expresses Optimism and Confidence in Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

07 Oct 2015 --- 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. Yesterday, trade ministers from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam concluded negotiations for the TPP-one of the largest trade deals in recent history.

For America'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 1 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 the highest-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. 

The American Sugar Alliance issued the following statement about today's announcement that an agreement was reached on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal: "The American Sugar Alliance still needs to review the final language and verify details in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but we are cautiously optimistic about what we've learned from U.S. trade negotiators. "It is important to farmers and taxpayers alike that TPP not threaten America's no-cost sugar policy. And, it appears that United States Trade Representative Michael Froman and his team have achieved that goal with their skillful negotiation of provisions appropriate to such a complex market in this 21st Century trade agreement. "U.S. sugar producers applaud the USTR's office for its tireless work, its diligent communications with our industry throughout the process, and its understanding of the sensitivities surrounding a global sugar market that has been grossly distorted by foreign subsidies." LinkThis is an external link or third-party site outside of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) website. 

"In many parts of the world, food and agricultural products still face the legacy of high import barriers," said David MacLennan, Cargill's chairman and chief executive officer. "We believe the Trans-Pacific Partnership will allow food to move more freely across borders from places of plenty to places of need, which benefits farmers and consumers around the world." Cargill encourages the governments of the TPP countries to follow through on the progress made by the negotiators, as TPP would benefit many sectors of the world economy, including food and agricultural production. Farmers in producing countries could potentially reach nearly 500 million new customers in Asia, who would in turn gain access to more affordable, higher quality products. Trade agreements have historically boosted export and import flows between participating nations, leading to higher-paying jobs and improved living standards. "Over time, the most successful countries have been those that embraced international trade," MacLennan said. "Modern trade agreements like the TPP will continue that trend, while also setting high standards for labor, human rights and sustainability." 

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) released the following statement upon the announced conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (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." The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies within a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's nearly 200 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. 

A statement from U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Tom Sleight on completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, announced Monday: "We are very pleased to hear of the overall agreement coming out of the TPP negotiations in Atlanta and appreciate the negotiators' continued work to strike a deal. "Open, liberalized trade of goods and services is vital to the prosperity of the United States, including U.S. agriculture, and our trading partners around the world. We fundamentally believe that reducing the range of barriers to open trade will benefit not just the grain industry that we represent but also the overseas customers that we have sought to serve for more than 50 years. "Our priorities in these talks have been focused on the broad goal of securing increased market access for U.S. grains and ethanol and ensuring that existing access remains open. That means lasting tariff relief, sanitary and phytosanitary provisions that will reduce the impact of non-tariff barriers, and meaningful global progress on the synchronous approval of biotech events. "In 2014, the United States exported more than $6 billion in corn and corn co-products to the TPP region out of a world total of $11.4 billion. A TPP agreement is expected to increase the output of all grain exports from the United States by 11 percent. "With these facts in mind, we look forward to working with our partners to evaluate the agreement produced by the negotiators, provide our best judgment on its merits and explain its benefits to our members that will inspire their support for the ratification process. As we dig into the details of the agreement for grains and ethanol, we do so with expectation about the huge potential of markets that offer 800 million customers with a combined GDP of $28 trillion."