The U.S. Grains Council was encouraged by the announcement this week  of  the Senate Finance Committee’s  intention to schedule a mock up hearing on the Korea, Colombia and Panama Free Trade Agreements. However, procedural disagreements on inclusion of reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance resulted in postponement of that markup hearing.  Hopefully, these disagreements can be resolved in a timely manner and move toward the critical step of ratification and implementation of these important trade initiatives.

“These agreements are essential to level the playing field for U.S. agriculture to take advantage of the vast opportunities to provide coarse grains and co-products in growing international markets in this hemisphere and Asia,� said Terry Vinduska, USGC chairman.

Ratification of these FTAs will provide the opportunity to generate an additional $2.5 billion in exports of U.S. agricultural commodities and value-added products.

“These agreements are critical to U.S. agricultural competitiveness; we cannot afford to wait any longer. Their (immediate) ratification will send a clear signal to our global partners and interests about the United States’ commitment to trade and the global marketplace,� explained Rebecca Bratter, USGC vice president of international operations.

Vinduska affirmed: “With each of these trading partners negotiating trade agreements with our competitors, it is imperative that we move forward and complete these FTAs as soon as possible.�