State's agriculture should benefirt from FTAs
Washington Ag Today October 13, 2011 While Congress was debating the U.S. free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea yesterday, Ambassador Isi Siddiqui, Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative was in Washington state for part of the day. In a phone interview the Ambassador said the three agreements will add 2.3 billion dollars annually to U.S. ag exports creating an additional 20-thousand jobs nationally, and numerous Washington state products will benefit. Siddiqui: “Washington state every year exports about 2.6 billion dollars in agricultural exports; potatoes, apples, cherries, plums and you name it. All the fruits and vegetables, and wine, they will all benefit. Many of these commodities will go to zero tariffs right away and some of them will go over a period of five to ten years.” Ambassador Siddiqui noted the Administration’s support for the Trade Adjustment Act to help workers negatively impacted by the trade agreements, which finally cleared Congress yesterday. Now here is Jack McQuinness from Stockland Livestock recapping Monday’s sale. 17-hundred on the market Monday. Strong feeder sale. All weights and classes selling on a real good market. Some of these 750 pound steers as high as $1.35,$1.36. Five weight calves as high as $1.50. Better quality replacement heifers in the $1.30 to $1.35 range. We sell cattle every Monday here at Stockland. Special stock cow sale on November 5th and a small animal sale the 4th Tuesday of every month. Thanks for listening. Thanks Jack. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.
