U.S. wheat group opposes U.S.-Australia free-trade agreement

U.S. wheat group opposes U.S.-Australia free-trade agreement    U.S. Wheat Associates (USW), a Washington-based group representing American wheat producers, said it could not support the recently signed U.S.-Australia free-trade agreement.
   “We are very disappointed that the U.S.-Australia FTA (free-trade agreement) did not address the inequities inherent in the AWB (Australian Wheat Board) monopoly,” said USW chairman Alan Lee in a statement. The AWB is a government-operated manager for Australia’s wheat exports.
   “Negotiators made the same mistake when the U.S. signed the original free-trade agreement with Canada, and American wheat producers are still subject to the unfair trading practices of the monopoly up north,” Lee said, referring the continuation of the Canadian Wheat Board. “Again U.S. negotiators missed the opportunity to correct the trade distortions as practiced by export monopolies.”
   USW will lobby Congress to oppose the U.S.-Australia free-trade agreement’s implementation. “If we cannot solve trade issues in a free-trade agreement, and if the FTA partner continues with unfair trade practices, harming the financial well being of wheat producers, then the FTA should be defeated and negotiators should go back to the table,” Lee said.
   USW members are state wheat commissions in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.