New TPP pact would be a 'disaster for farmers'; Trump signals willingness to re-enter talks, but it may be too late - Entrepreneur Generations

The Trump administration has signaled that it might be willing to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but it may be too late--and American farmers could lose out because of it. David Malpass, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, said at a lecture on Wednesday that the U.S. would consider re-entering the pact if it could be renegotiated more favorably. His comment echoes President Trump's remark at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 25 that he would be willing to come back to the table, but the 11 remaining TPP nations reached an accord on Jan. 23 and plan to sign the revised deal in March, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the pact will be difficult to renegotiate, Taisei Hoyama reports for Nikkei Asian Review.

Trump's first official act in office was to withdraw the U.S. from the TPP, saying that it wasn't a good deal for Americans and that he prefers bilateral trade agreements to multilateral. Trump's comment at Davos didn't receive much press because he didn't follow up with trade overtures to TPP countries or other concrete gestures. "There's another reason to wonder how serious Trump is," Urban Lehner writes for The Progressive Farmer. "Interest groups, including the farm lobby, have been complaining about the administration's failure to replace TPP with a Japan bilateral. A cynic might wonder if having failed to convince the Japanese to negotiate bilaterally, the president dangles the possibility of re-entering TPP to keep the interest groups at bay."

Whether that's true or not, it's clear American agriculture groups are getting increasingly nervous. On Jan. 23, the day the new TPP accord was announced, the Asia-Pacific Working Group, which represents more than 95 percent of the American farming, ranching and food processing sector sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in support of the U.S. rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Lehner reports. The Asia-Pacific Working Group is a part of the U.S. Food and Agriculture Dialogue for Trade.

The newly agreed-upon pact would be a "disaster for farmers", according to Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission, and that American wheat farmers would lose $3 billion over the next 10 years. Japan is the biggest international customer for U.S. wheat, but wheat from Australia and Canada would be much cheaper under the new pact. U.S. Wheat Associates estimates that Japanese imports of U.S. wheat would fall by 2.5 million bushels annually, KREM-TV reports.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2BzEqN5 New TPP pact would be a 'disaster for farmers'; Trump signals willingness to re-enter talks, but it may be too late - Entrepreneur Generations

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