Pork producers, others consider opposing TPP over Japan
December 19, 2013 | 12:10 AM
Seventeen agriculture groups led by the National Pork Producers Council are considering opposing a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement if it includes Japan but that country doesn’t agree to comprehensive trade liberalization, including elimination of tariffs on virtually all U.S. agricultural products.
In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the 17 groups, which include the American Farm Bureau Federation, grain, meat and dairy groups, said that if Japan is allowed to claim exceptions for sensitive products, other TPP countries inevitably will demand the right to do the same.
Countenancing such an action, they said, also will affect future trade agreements, including the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership now being negotiated between the United States and the European Union.
If Japan won't agree to a free market in agriculture, the groups said, it should be left out of the TPP.
▪ Group letter to USTR
In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the 17 groups, which include the American Farm Bureau Federation, grain, meat and dairy groups, said that if Japan is allowed to claim exceptions for sensitive products, other TPP countries inevitably will demand the right to do the same.
Countenancing such an action, they said, also will affect future trade agreements, including the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership now being negotiated between the United States and the European Union.
If Japan won't agree to a free market in agriculture, the groups said, it should be left out of the TPP.
▪ Group letter to USTR
