After nearly five years of political struggle, there is light at the end of the tunnel for completing trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. This news arrived on the heels of a signed agreement between the U.S. and Mexico on a cross-border truck deal that resulted in Mexico cutting tariffs on a number of our commodities, with the promise to end tariffs as soon as the program is fully implemented.
Ratification of agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama would create significant opportunity for California farmers and ranchers to expand market share in these parts of the world. For this reason, we join with the American Farm Bureau Federation effort to send Congress a clear message from our grassroots that now is the time to finish these deals.
Action can't come soon enough. Our competitive advantage is in jeopardy. Australia, Chile, Canada and the European Union are aggressively moving in to the three nations and taking potential U.S. market share. Other countries also see the benefit of trade agreements.
But the path to ratification is far from clear and your help is needed to influence our state's congressional delegation. In last week's "mock" committee markup in the House and Senate—a symbolic action that clears the way for a vote in both chambers—the deals passed in pure partisan fashion, although in a different way than you might think.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: California Farm Bureau
