WASHINGTON D.C. — USDA secretaries of the Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations spoke with one voice last week in calling for Congress to grant Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to President Obama’s administration.
The "fast track" option would allow the United States to be a world leader in trade negotiations, a power that every other president has had since Gerald Ford, said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
"I am pleased with the bipartisan support we have. But we still have a long row to hoe … We need to give the President the authority to negotiate agreements, or our country will move to the second tier globally. American farms live or die on whether we provide TPA," Vilsack said.
USDA reports that ag product exports totaled $771.7 billion since 2009, the strongest period in history. In 2014 ag exports reached $152.5 billion, the highest annual level on record.
Vilsack urged farmers to individually contact their legislators about the need to restore TPA, rather than rely on their ag affiliations to do it for them.
"Thousands of producers need to be engaged in this. Their livelihood and the ability to pass on their farms (to the next generation) directly relate to this issue. Ninety percent of consumers live outside the U.S.," Vilsack said.
Emerging markets in Asia are at stake, and if the United States does not lead "to write the rules" of trade in that region, China will step into the void, Vilsack explained.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, touted as lowering tariffs in 11 markets, is still in the process of being negotiated and would be aided by the TPA, Vilsack added.
Vilsack asserted that China would not apply the same high standards to environmental or labor concerns as the United States.
Appearing with Vilsack for a press conference last Friday were Ann Veneman, ag secretary under President George W. Bush, and Dan Glickman, ag secretary under President Bill Clinton. In addition, eight former ag secretaries have signed a letter of support for the TPA.
Labor and environmental interests have banded together to oppose TPA with "great intensity," Glickman said, putting pressure on legislators at home.
"Based on history, not every agreement has helped workers," Glickman said, "but America has benefitted overall from TPA. The trade authority is important for America’s leadership in the world. It’s also an American security issue."
In answering critics on issues of transparency, Vilsack said Congress would reserve the power to set parameters for trade agreements, as well as the right to review negotiation documents and vote to ratify the final trade deal.
"Negotiators need to be assured that items within our agreements will not be changed by Congress. Congress would still have the up or down vote on any export agreement," Vilsack said.
Veneman strongly agreed with the importance of TPA.
"We know exports increase when even trade agreements are negotiated … As we look at the issue, people don’t understand the importance of bilateral trade agreements to jobs, farmers, and the economic well-being of the country," Veneman said.
