Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 10/5/15


Meat industry groups were quick to issue congratulatory statements after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that following seven years of negotiating, 12 nations have finally agreed terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Some groups hedged their statements awaiting further details.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agreement would eliminate or significantly reduce tariffs on U.S. products and deter non-science-based sanitary and phytosanitary barriers that have put American agriculture at a disadvantage in TPP countries in the past.

TPP countries currently account for up to 42 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports, totaling $633 billion. Vilsack predicted the agreement would increase exports of meat, poultry, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains, oilseeds, cotton and processed products.
TPP member countries include: United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Hoping for the best
“We look forward to examining the red meat trade provisions agreed to in Atlanta and discussing them in detail with USMEF members,” the U.S. Meat Export Federation said in a short statement.

“The TPP represents a significant opportunity to expand U.S. chicken exports and bring increased economic benefits to chicken farmers and companies across the country,” National Chicken Council President Mike Brown said in a statement. “Our major goals in this deal are to get a strong commitment on enforcement, in particular in the area of sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Second, we hope to see that the long-protected Canadian market is finally opened to free trade for poultry.”

“The TPP will immediately reduce tariffs and level the playing field for U.S. beef exports to these growing markets,” predicted National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Phillip Ellis. “[B]eef producers were able to secure the best deal possible to address tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to beef exports, surpassing individual country arrangements.”

The National Pork Producers Council expressed confidence the TPP would provide enormous new market opportunities for American pork products. In a statement, the NPPC quoted Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes as predicting the trade pact could increase U.S. pork exports exponentially over time and help create more than 10,000 American jobs tied to those exports. Last year, the American pork industry shipped about $4.5 billion of products to the other 11 TPP nations.

North American Meat Institute President and CEO Barry Carpenter said, “TPP will strengthen our strategic relationships with trade partners in the critical Asia-Pacific region, enhance our competitiveness and support high-paying American jobs, while promoting transparency, driving innovation and supporting robust labor standards,” adding, “The Meat Institute looks forward to reviewing the final text and to working with Congress to ensure its full approval and implementation.”   

Not everyone is thrilled
“Our experience with these so-called free trade agreements over the past two decades has taught us that this will cost U.S. jobs and reduce wages,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in a statement.

She went on to call on the Administration to “end the secrecy that has shrouded this massive deal from the beginning and show this backroom deal to the Members of Congress they are asking to vote on it... everything we know about the agreement suggests it will be yet another disaster for hard working American families.”

The National Farmer’s Union also voiced displeasure.
“Just as we feared, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is moving forward without any meaningful language addressing one of the chief tools used by our trade competitors to ensure the playing field is never fair: currency manipulation,” said NFU President Roger Johnson.

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