Firsthand Look At FTA's

Firsthand Look At FTA’s. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

A group of farmers and ranchers from the nation’s largest farm organization will be heading to South and Central America.  Their primary goal, to build relationships and show support for pending free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.  American Farm Bureau Trade Specialist Chris Garza.

GARZA: These agreements are important to U.S. agriculture.  We are currently losing market share in Colombia and could potentially start to lose market share in Panama as well.  Passage of these trade agreements will prevent that and hopefully reverse what we have already lost.  In terms of gains for U.S. agriculture, these two agreements represent almost a billion dollars worth of additional agricultural exports.  That is in addition to what we already export into these markets. 

The farmers and ranchers will meet with officials from the U.S. embassies and agricultural leaders in Brazil, Colombia and Panama and also get out to farms.

GARZA: There’s a lot to be gained from these types of international interactions.  There are relationships to be built.    There is education that needs to happen. Having that firsthand experience of being in Brazil or being in Colombia and seeing what production looks like and the issues that those farmers go through can help us deal with some of our own concerns.   

Garza says even though the U.S. doesn’t have a trade deal pending with Brazil, it’s still an important opportunity to build understanding with one of our top competitors for agricultural trade.

GARZA: We talk about trade in the terms of why it’s important to America’s farmers and ranchers, but these trade agreements are also important to the overall U.S. economies and the rural economies.  USDA estimates that for every billion dollars worth of trade we support 9,000 jobs here in the United States.  So trade just isn’t about our agricultural products being sent to foreign consumers, it is about the jobs that trade helps to support and create here in the United States.

He talks about the current situation with the Colombia and Panama free trade agreements. 

GARZA: Colombia and Panama are not the only trade agreements out there that need action.  Korea needs action as well.  Korea, though, looks to be in a much better spot for congressional action than Colombia and Panama.  The Obama administration is still trying to deal with concerns that they see in the Panama and Colombia agreements.  We urge the administration though to resolve those concerns now because we want to see action on Colombia and Panama before the end of this summer.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.