The American Farm Bureau’s (AFBF) trade adviser says now that a TPP deal has been finalized without the U.S., Washington has little choice but to look for other trade deal partners in the Asia-Pacific, which is not the ideal situation. Canada’s Prime Minister announced last week that his country had finalized its own TPP with 10-nations in the Asia-Pacific region, a revised version of the deal President Trump withdrew the U.S. from last year.
So where does that leave U.S. producers and others who stood to gain from the lucrative multilateral agreement? American Farm Bureau trade adviser Dave Salmonsen.
But the administration has chosen a different path…and the US now faces competition for bilateral deals from other suitors.
Still others, like Australia, have already made deals with Japan, giving the Australians a head-start in any tariff reduction deals, though Salmonsen says there are ways to salvage wins.
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and President Trump argue the U.S. can still get better deals through bilateral efforts. Some trade experts disagree and argue doing so does not win the kind of collective benefits that regional, multilateral deals achieve—or overcome challenges from other bilateral suitors.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.