US potato exporters worried about impact of withdrawing from TPP
The Washington and Oregon Potato Growers Convention, held January 24-26, featured many speakers, including one D.C. insider who shed light on what it might mean for the potato industry moving forward, according to NBC news.
The National Potato Council's executive vice president and CEO John Keeling told the crowd that the effect of the TPP will be felt in the future, rather than the present. He added that there were aspects of the partnership that would have helped the potato industry, specifically when exporting to countries like Vietnam and Japan, where he says fast food chains like McDonald's and KFC are constantly growing, which increases demand for potatoes.
Keeling says the TPP would have reduced tariffs in participating countries from 10-12% down to zero over five years. He adds it probably wouldn't have passed in Congress anyway, but the fact that other countries are reducing their tariffs and the U.S. isn't, puts the potato growers at a disadvantage as they try to export their products across the Pacific.
Keeling told the crowd he can see the value in President Trump wanting to negotiate with countries individually, but in the meantime the uncertainty is worrying because the industry relies so much on exporting to other countries.
Not all the speakers have a similar opinion. Jay Lehr, science director at the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, says the potato trade won’t be affected by the TPP. “The TPP is like Obamacare. It’s thousands of pages kept in a locked room and members of Congress are not allowed to take notes when they read it,” he said, according to Columbia Basin Herald.
Lehr added that the potato trade has to be easy. “I’ll buy your stuff and won’t put a tariff on it if you buy my stuff and won’t put a tariff on it,” Lehr said. “It’s that simple. You don’t need a thousand pages.”
source: potatobusiness.com
