Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/4/10

The National Pork Producers Council said Monday that the failure of the United States to approve free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea would result in the U.S. pork industry losing access to those markets within 10 years at a cost of more than $11.50 per pig and thousands of jobs.

The group based its statement on analyses conducted by Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, who studied trade agreements the three countries have concluded with other nations. Colombia and Panama recently finalized trade pacts with Canada, and South Korea is nearing completion on a deal with the European Union.

NPPC joined with the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and National Corn Growers Association in decrying congressional inaction on the pending trade deals at a press conference.

"It is clear that without new trade agreements, the United States will be going backward by standing still," NPPC President Don Butler said in a news release. "Our industry can't afford that; our country can't afford that.

"For us to remain a successful and viable industry, we need new and expanded market access. And the way to get that is through free trade agreements," he added.

Last year, the United States exported more than $4.3 billion of pork products, which translated into an additional $38 to the price producers received for each hog marketed.

Pork and other exports also give the overall U.S. economy a boost. For every 1 percent increase in the size of the U.S. pork industry, which would result from a rise in exports, 920 full-time pork industry jobs are created and nearly 4,600 jobs are generated throughout the economy, Hayes said.

The U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement would add $10 to the price U.S. pork producers receive for each hog marketed and would create more than 3,600 pork industry and 18,000 total jobs. The FTAs with Colombia and Panama would, respectively, add $1.15 and 20 cents to the price of each hog sold and generate 3,500 and 600 pork industry jobs, according to Hayes.

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