Ag Groups Press Need for Vietnam Access in TPP Agreement

By CnAgri2012-09-17 19:49:46 Print

Nearly 50 agricultural organizations are warning USDA and trade officials that the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks could fall short if 'meaningful market access' in Vietnam is not achieved.

In a letter sent late last week, the groups told Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk that Vietnam remains the key growth market that U.S. agricultural producers could access through a successful TPP.

The organizations stressed that their support is contingent on achievement of a comprehensive free trade deal with Vietnam.

"Of the current participants in the TPP negotiations, Vietnam holds far and away the greatest market potential for the vast majority of U.S. food and agricultural products," they wrote.

The U.S. already has free trade agreements with Chile, Peru, Australia and Singapore, and New Zealand, Malaysia and Brunei are not considered large growth markets.

Without a TPP agreement, U.S. agriculture would be at a competitive disadvantage to Australia and New Zealand, which have preferential access to Vietnam through an existing trade agreement.

Since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization in 2007, U.S. agricultural exports to the country have grown more than six-fold, from $216 million to $1.64 billion.

Since free trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea were implemented, with a similar agreement with Panama set to be implemented soon, trade advocates are focusing attention on the TPP talks, which will almost certainly produce the next large, multilateral agreement benefiting the U.S.