More than half (51 percent) of U.S. adults who were polled for a recent PEW study indicated they viewed trade agreements between the United States and other countries positively.
This is good news for U.S. agriculture, which relies on global sales to help promote profitability and was welcomed by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), which works with partners around the world to develop markets and achieve favorable trade policies.
“Trade policy creates the environment in which the global marketplace operates,� said U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Chairman Alan Tiemann, who farms in Nebraska. “Part of this includes trade agreements, which are critical to opening markets, resolving trade barriers and allowing the movement of coarse grains, co-products and other agricultural exports to where they are in demand.�
Since the end of World War II, the United States has negotiated agreements with 20 countries, which is an important but small collection when compared to the more than 260 trade agreements in place around the world.
“Some of these FTAs are opening doors for large trade increases in places like Colombia and Peru and others are maintaining relationships like with Korea and Mexico,� Tiemann said. “All matter to U.S. farmers’ bottom line.�
To help maintain U.S. farmers’ competitiveness, trade liberalization needs to occur on all levels.
Two areas of focus for the Council and others are the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), which is now being negotiated, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is in the process of being ratified within the United States and its’ other member countries. These agreements would provide similar benefits to U.S. farmers as the other 20 FTAs but on a larger scale by easing barriers to free trade across Europe and Asia, respectively.
Click here to learn more about the Council’s work with trade policy.