US agriculture will see $4.4B boost from Pacific trade deal

U.S. agriculture will experience substantial benefits from a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement and is urging Congress to quickly pass the agreement, according to a new economic analysis released on Tuesday.

The American Farm Bureau Federation’s new report concludes that congressional passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement would boost the bottom line for the nation’s farmers by $4.4 billion over levels expected if Congress fails to ratify the deal between the United States and 11 other nations.

{mosads}“TPP will mean a boatload of expanded exports and increased demand for America’s agricultural products,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the Farm Bureau.

“Clearly, America’s farmers and ranchers have much to gain from approval of TPP and we support its ratification,” Duvall said.

The report showed that failing to approve the deal would have adverse effects on agriculture and will create a loss in market share. 

“Every day we delay means lost markets as other TPP countries implement the deal’s advantages with each other,” Duvall said.

“We are already arriving at the party late because, right now, expanded trade due to TPP is going on across the Pacific Rim — just without us.”

U.S. agriculture groups are ramping up their lobbying efforts to convince lawmakers to back the TPP.

While procedural steps in Congress will take time, “the sooner TPP is ratified, the better it will be for American agriculture,” Duvall said.

The analysis forecasts that net trade is expected to increase for rice, cotton, beef, pork, poultry, butter, cheese, soybeans among other products.

U.S. beef and pork exports are expected to be $1 billion and $940 million higher, respectively.

Various agricultural groups, including beef and chicken have said that the deal substantially lowers tariffs in Japan’s market, one of their largest export markets.

The TPP agreement substantially lowers tariffs and other trade barriers with TPP countries besides the nations that the United States already has trade agreements with — Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Singapore and Peru, the report said. 

The report assesses the effects of reducing agricultural tariffs, adjusting tariff-rate quotas and reducing non-tariff barriers to trade on U.S. agriculture in 2026 — the assumed end date of the pact’s implementation.