Agricultural News
Oklahoma Pork Council Executive Hopeful About Passage of Free Trade Agreements
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:59:07 CDT
The movement of the three free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea hasn't been quick enough according to Roy Lee Lindsey, Executive Director for the Oklahoma Pork Council. Ron Hays and Roy Lee Lindsey sat down to talk about the free trade agreements and what they would mean for Oklahoma pork producers.
"The hold up on the free trade agreements is the Trade Adjustment Assistance, which is essentially training dollars for people that may lose their jobs due to provisions in the trade agreements," said Lindsey. "The trade agreements themselves are not a problem."
For the U.S. pork industry, the deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea would add more than $11 to the price producers receive for each hog and generate more than 10,000 jobs, according to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes.
"Long-term pork production would benefit from the South Korea free trade agreement because of this added price to the producers," says Lindsey. "It would also bring in new revenue and to help support the whole pork industry."
In fact, the European Union's trade agreement with South Korea went into effect July 1, and Colombia and Panama are nearing completion on deals with Canada.
"The European Union has already begun their free trade with South Korea, which allows them the chance and the opportunity to potentially take market shares away from the U.S.," says Lindsey.
Click on the LISTEN bar below to hear more from Ron Hays and Roy Lee Lindsey on the pork industry and the free trade agreements.
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