Acting USDA chief touts pending free trade agreements

Acting USDA chief touts pending free trade agreements Acting U.S. Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner is attempting to drum up support for free trade agreements pending approval in Congress.
   The agreements include bilateral pacts with South Korea, Panama, Peru and Colombia.
   The free trade agreement with South Korea is considered the most significant reached between the United States and another country in 20 years.
   “A full $1.6 billion of farm exports will become duty free to Korea, effective immediately,” Conner said at a press conference in Washington Thursday. “Korea has a $1 trillion economy, and we would gain access to that fast-growing market and their nearly 50 million consumers that exist in that market.”
   Passage of the Panama, Peru and Colombia free trade agreements would provide immediate duty free access to half of U.S. agricultural products. “In just the last five years our ag exports to these three countries have grown 37 percent already, so the demand we believe is there for our products,” Conner said.
   Overall, USDA has reported healthy gains in U.S. agriculture exports in recent years. In 2007, U.S. ag exports hit a record $79 billion, with a forecasted $83 billion in 2008.
   “Some critics may ask why we should ratify the free trade agreements if we’re already seeing a healthy growth in our exports,” Conner said. “Let me give you three responses to that point.
   * “First, U.S. agricultural exports currently face barriers to entering these markets. Although we allow more than 99 percent of the agricultural exports from Colombia, Panama and Peru to enter our market in the U.S. duty free, we have virtually no duty free access in their markets.
   * “Secondly, not signing these agreements does not mean that we can maintain the status quo going forward. As other nations put free trade agreements in place, we stand simply to lose market share. (Conner noted that South Korea is the fourth-largest U.S. export market for lemons. However, Chile signed a free trade agreement with South Korea in 2005 and has since captured 10 percent of the world’s lemon export market in South Korea.)
   * “The third and final reason that I will offer today for implementing these trade agreements is simple. It’s a simple message because free trade is simply a good thing. It does level the playing field, creates jobs, it allows for fair competition for U.S. producers, and it does capitalize on the strengths of the parties that are involved.”
   Conner explained the benefits to U.S. agriculture since the congressional passage of the Central American Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement.
   “Since it went into effect last year, our agricultural exports to this region were up almost 19 percent from 2005,” he said. “That’s 50 percent higher than the 12 percent growth that we have seen in our exports to the rest of the world. It is estimated that CAFTA-DR could boost our agricultural exports by $1.5 billion when it is fully implemented.”