Oilseed and Grain Sectors Reacts to Passing of TPP Agreement

After five years of ongoing negotiations, trade ministers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, and Brunei, announced that the landmark Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement has been completed. If approved by the U.S. Congress and made law, the agreement would affect 40% of the world’s economic output and would be the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994.

A statement issued by Tom Sleight, president and CEO of the U.S. Grains Council on Monday applauded the completion of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact negotiations.

"Open, liberalized trade of goods and services is vital to the prosperity of the United States, including U.S. agriculture, and our trading partners around the world,” said Mr. Sleight. “We fundamentally believe that reducing the range of barriers to open trade will benefit not just the grain industry that we represent but also the overseas customers that we have sought to serve for more than 50 years.”

Through the finalization of the TPP, the goal of the U.S. Grains Council was to attain broader market access for both U.S. grain crops and ethanol through tariff reductions, sanitary and phytosanitary rules that will offset the impact of non-tariff trade barriers, and the organization of a global system for synchronized approvals for biotechnology advances.

The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) has also voiced its support for the agreement. “We now look forward to reviewing the details of yesterday’s agreement and stand ready to work with Congress and the Administration during the all-important Congressional consideration of this historic Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.” said Tom Hammer, NOPA President, in a recent press release.

The Asia-Pacific region is the largest export destination for U.S. food and feed exports, and last year, U.S. exports of corn and corn co-products to the TPP region were valued at more than $6 billion. With the completion of the TPP agreement, U.S. grain exports are expected to be boosted by 11%.

“TPP has the potential to provide the opportunity for U.S. processors of oilseed products, as well as our domestic poultry and livestock customers, to expand export sales to some of the fastest growing protein markets in the world,” states Mr. Hammer.