Agricultural News
Farm Foundation's Trade Resource Center Releases New Tools to Help Lay Groundwork for Future
Mon, 14 Jan 2019 12:02:12 CST
Farm Foundation's Food and Agricultural Trade Resource Center has released four new papers focused on trade principles shaping international agreements, as well as an analysis of the importance of trade to the U.S. economy.
"Farm Foundation created the Trade Resource Center to bring clarity to trade discussions and enable productive debate and dialogue on trade policy issues. That means understanding not only the basic tools of trade, but how trade is a tool in the economic health and growth of every nation's economy," says Farm Foundation President Constance Cullman.
"To meet this goal, Farm Foundation turned to leading global experts to provide their expertise. The commissioned papers offered here and planned for the future lay a groundwork on the basics of trade and its importance to the health of the global economy," Cullman continues.
Topics covered in the papers, which are available on the Trade Resource Center website, include:
- The Importance of Trade to the U.S. Economy-With a Special Emphasis on Agriculture: Agricultural economist Robert Young, Ph.D., offers an in-depth examination of the role of trade in the U.S. economy, and especially agriculture. Young is the former chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation.
- Globalization and the Benefits of Trade: Agricultural economist Robert Thompson, Ph.D., focuses on globalization of trade, the reasons countries engage in trade, and how trade negotiation parameters can serve to generate equitable trade environments.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance and Agriculture: Trade consultant Paul Drazek details the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program, created as part of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
- Understanding the Basic Economic Principles of Trade: The importance and fundamental advancement of our understanding of the economic value of trade is examined by Megan Provost, J.D., Farm Foundation's Vice President of Policy and Programs.
Trade issues--from tariff escalations and other trade barriers to proposed restructurings of long-standing trade agreements--have disrupted market flows around the world. U.S. agriculture, which exports more than 20% of its production, has taken a significant hit, and the ripple effects have been huge in farm cash receipts and rural communities. The U.S. food and agriculture sector exports nearly $140 billion in commodities and value-added goods, making it one of the nation's only sectors with a trade surplus.
"Given these dynamics, a basic understanding of food and agricultural trade is critical," Cullman says. "Given our 86-year reputation for providing objective information, Farm Foundation felt it was important to provide public and private decision-makers with informational tools and analyses. A solid foundation of basic trade education, as well as more detailed analyses of larger trade issues, will support quality dialogues on agricultural trade."
Source - Farm Foundation
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