Agricultural News
National Farmers Union Says "No" to TPP Agreement
Mon, 16 Nov 2015 18:48:08 CST
One national agricultural organization won't get behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The National Farmers Union has come out in opposition of TPP. NFU Sr. Vice President of Programs Chandler Goule said NFU opposes TPP largely because there is no retaliation or dispute mechanism in place for countries that manipulate their currency. He said that makes the playing field un-level for the nation's family farmers and ranchers.
"That makes their products, good and services cheaper than the U.S. and we're going to see an increase of imports from them and a decrease in exports from us," Goule said.
The TPP is an agreement between the United States and 11 other countries. This includes Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore and New Zealand. Goule said TPP includes three currency manipulators in Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. Before the trade agreement was complete, he said Malaysia manipulated its currency and Vietnam is in the process of manipulating theirs.
"We have no way to retaliate when they manipulate their currency and it's going to put our family farmers and ranchers here in the United States at a disadvantage," Goule said.
After reviewing the full text of the agreement, Goule said TPP uses the same "cookie cutter" language that was used in other free trade agreements. This includes the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement. Goule points out those agreements significantly hurt the U.S. tomato, potato and citrus industries and the U.S. lost its textile industry.
TPP is often touted to improve market access, decrease tariffs, and increase U.S. exports. Goule said NFU can't get behind TPP because of the results of past free trade agreements that have made those same promises. NFU finds TPP is too much risk for the nation's farmers and ranchers. He said if the trade negotiators truly addressed currency manipulation with true retaliation, NFU would have a much different view of the TPP agreement.
Radio Oklahoma Network's Leslie Smith interviewed Goule at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention in Kansas City, Missouri this past week. Goule also addressed the status of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and provides a Congressional outlook for 2016 with a Presidential election. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the interview.
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