U.S. Wheat Growers See TPA as First Step to Increased Export Opportunity
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Monday, June 29, 2015 – Today marks the end of a successful bipartisan effort and the beginning of better prospects for agricultural trade as President Obama signs Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) into law.
“With reauthorization of TPA, the President has a prime opportunity to help level the playing field for wheat growers and American agriculture,” said Brett Blankenship, NAWG President and a wheat grower from Washtucna, Wash. “It is now up to the Administration to use that authority to negotiate new wheat market access commitments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and future trade agreements.”
“Putting TPA in place is a step forward for American wheat growers,” said Roy Motter, USW Chairman and a Desert Durum® grower from Brawley, Calif. “Now we need a TPP agreement that will help growers overcome the tariff advantages a lot of our competitors get through free trade agreements with importing countries. That is important because wheat demand in many of those countries is growing rapidly and we can’t afford to lose out.”
NAWG and USW applaud the tireless work of Congress and the President to get to this point, and look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to finalize strong trade deals for America’s wheat farmers.
NAWG is a federation of 22 state wheat grower associations that works to represent the needs and interests of wheat producers before Congress and federal agencies. Based in Washington, D.C., NAWG is grower-governed and grower-funded, and works in areas as diverse as federal farm policy, trade, environmental regulation, agricultural research and sustainability.
USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers and their customers.” USW activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by FAS.
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