Potatoes in Phase-One Pt 1

Potatoes in Phase-One Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I’m Bob Larson. Phase One of a trade agreement between the U.S. and China has been signed and should be up and running by late February.

And, after the signing last week, the potato industry found a pleasant surprise in the details.

Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, says it was very good news …

QUARLES … “So, we’re pretty excited that they got to a Phase One deal. We got some great information out of the White House that, in addition to simply stabilizing the, calming down the ratcheting of tariffs upward, there’s also some language in the agreement related to fresh market access for U.S. potatoes so that was a very pleasant surprise.”

But, Matt Lantz, Vice President of Global Access for Bryant Christie, says the potato export part of the deal is not quite final …

LANTZ … “The language says that an agreement shall be signed and implemented within seven working days of entry of force of the broader agreement. So, in seven working days of the implementation of the broader agreement, there should be an agreement on shipping potatoes to China. But, there’s a lot of work that has to happen before that occurs. So, February 24th, if you count the working days, that’s when we’re hoping to have an official potato agreement.”

The signing happened in Washington D.C. last Wednesday while most potato industry heavy weights were in Las Vegas for the 2020 Potato Expo.

Tune in tomorrow for more on the signing of the Phase-One trade agreement with China and what it means for the potato industry.

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