The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a multinational trade deal that has been getting lots of attention lately. As farm groups try to lobby its passage, members of Congress continue to say they won’t sign the deal under President Obama’s administration.
Still, early this week Obama said that he’s “cautiously optimistic congress will support the TPP this year.” The 12 countries involved in the deal have already approved and signed the agreement. The U.S. International Trade Commission recently announced it will be sending Congress a formal letter asking for approval of the agreement soon.
A study conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation found that passage of TPP could benefit the U.S. by $4.4 billion annually. Several commodities stand to benefit from trade deal, according to their study. Corn could expect to see a price increase of $0.05 per hundredweight, soybeans a $0.12 increase and milk a $0.21 increase. Farm groups have been aggressively lobbying in favor of the agreement for months.
“If we aren’t willing to pass the TPP, we will watch our markets erode while other countries strike bilateral deals,” says Chris Novak, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. Novak says without the deal farmers will “essentially watch our [international] markets be washed away”.
By: Ann-Lisa Laca
Source: Agweb.com