April 25, 2024

Pork producers organisation urges for stronger US trade agenda

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) in the United States has led 30 other agricultural organisations in urging the country's Office of the US Trade Representative to recommit to an aggressive trade agenda, hold trading partners to their commitments and improve enforcement mechanisms for existing trade agreements.

In a letter sent to USTR's Katherine Tai, the groups asked that she engage on trade policies "to bolster our global competitive standing around the world."

They pointed out that US agriculture is "foundational to the American economy," supporting more than 48 million US jobs, contributing US$2.8 trillion in wages in 2023 and generating over US$9.6 trillion in total economic output. Agricultural exports, which were more than US$175 billion last year, account for about 20% of total production.

Despite the impressive numbers, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated a fiscal 2023 (October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023) agricultural trade deficit of US$16.6 billion. It is only the fourth time over the past 55 years the balance of trade in farm goods has been in the red, and the USDA is forecasting a bigger deficit for fiscal 2024.

NPPC has been urging USTR to open new and expand existing markets for US pork through comprehensive trade agreements that eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to US products. It supports enforcing international trade rules and ensuring that US trading partners live up to their trade commitments.

In their latest Capital Update, NPPC noted how much agricultural trade is vital to US farmers and the overall economy.

"Over the past four decades – particularly since it began negotiating free trade agreements – the United States has had agricultural trade surpluses almost every year," NPPC said. "For the US pork industry, exports contribute significantly to producers' bottom line. Last year, when producers shipped a record US$8.16 billion of product to foreign destinations, those exports added the equivalent of US$63.76 to the price producers received for each hog marketed and accounted for a record 29.6% of total production."

- National Hog Farmer