U.S. Wheat growers losers without a U.S.- Columbia FTA
Farm and Ranch July 16, 2009 U.S. wheat sales to Colombia would likely drop by more than 50 percent if Congress fails to soon ratify the U.S.-Columbia free trade agreement. That’s what Columbian wheat buyers and millers are saying in a visit to Washington D. C. this week.
Steve Mercer, Director of Communications for U.S. Wheat Associates, explains why the U.S. would likely lose sales.
Mercer: “Canada, our major competitor to the north in the wheat market, has negotiated its own free trade agreement with Columbia. They expect that to be signed and implemented this fall. What that means is that if that happens Canadian wheat can enter Columbia duty free wheat and we already have Columbia with an agreement with Argentina that allows duty free entry. So the U.S. wheat would be the only wheat that has duties for moving into Columbia.”
An official with the Columbian millers association says they prefer U.S. wheat, but the difference in price in that situation would be impossible to ignore.
Although Columbia is not a purchaser of soft white wheat, Mercer says it is the largest market in South America for U.S. wheat and the 8th largest market in the world. He says losing half of the Columbian market would cost U.S. wheat producers more than 87 million dollars in annual sales.
I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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