Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 3/18/15


The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) today formally asked federal lawmakers to approve legislation that makes it easier to finalize free trade agreements in order to boost exports and create jobs.

Representatives of the NPPC testified before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture that renewing the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) can open the door to finalize new trade deals more efficiently. The U.S. pork industry exports more pork to the 18 countries that have trade agreements with the United States than it exports to the rest of the world’s countries combined, the group said.

The organization already voiced its support for TPA rules in a letter to Congressional leaders earlier this year.

Pork imports have increased 1,550 percent in value and 1,268 percent by volume since the United States began using bilateral and regional trade agreements to open foreign markets to U.S. pork producers in 1989, according to the NPPC.

TPA officially sets U.S. negotiating objectives and allows Congress to review a deal before its finalization without amendments added on. Congress has granted TPA authority to every president since 1974, but the most recent TPA law expired in 2007, the NPCC said in its testimony.

NPPC officials are concerned that not passing the TPA sends a signal that U.S. agriculture is “turning its back” on the Asia-Pacific region, one of the fastest growing areas in the world for trade, the group said in a statement.

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