Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse asked the American Sugar Alliance to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. (American Sugar Alliance)

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. — Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse urged the nation’s cane and beet sugar growers today to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement currently under negotiation.

“Votes in the Congress are difficult. We have a lot of work to do in Congress, we are going to need your help,” Scuse said in a speech to the American Sugar Alliance.

Members from agricultural districts “pushed” the trade promotion authority bill through the House, Scuse said, noting that of the 218 votes for TPA, 150 came from agricultural districts.

TPP is a sensitive issue for the sugar growers because both Australia and Canada have asked for increased access to the U.S. market. On Monday, Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, the assistant U.S. trade representative for agriculture, said in a speech here that the United States will not “undermine” the functioning of the U.S. sugar program through the TPP.

Scuse repeated Bomer Lauritsen’s commitment and commended the sugar growers for working with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Agriculture Department to bring TPP to a conclusion that “we all can be happy with.”

ASA officials have said they will accept Australia receiving a small increase in its U.S. quota, which is currently at 87,000 metric tons, but the group has not taken a position on TPP.

“We will need to review any TPP agreement that is reached before taking an official position,” Phillip Hayes, the ASA spokesman told The Hagstrom Report.

“With that said, we are encouraged by the repeated pledge from USTR and USDA that the final deal will not undermine no-cost sugar policy.”

Hayes added, “Sugar clearly was not a major sticking point in the recent TPP negotiations, which we understand made positive headway during the recent meetings in Hawaii.”

But he also said, “Some TPP countries continue to make unreasonable demands on sugar, despite the extensive market access commitments the U.S. has already made in past trade agreements, the problems these commitments have caused for the operation of U.S. sugar policy, and the generous market access these countries already enjoy. It is essential that our trade negotiators remain firm in rejecting such demands.”

In his speech, Scuse noted that the last six years have seen the highest U.S. agricultural exports in history, but he said, “if we don’t push trade, we will fall behind.”

He also said the World Trade Organization is the best place to address trade conflicts, but that prospects for the Doha round are limited because other countries have been unwilling to open markets and have increased subsidies in the years since the round began and without “all parties” coming to the table there is no way to work out a deal.

Scuse praised the sugar growers for facing challenges and overcoming them, but said, “We need to do a better job of communicating with our consumers, with our taxpayers about the important role that agriculture plays not just in your lives but in others.”