The American Farm Bureau Federation has released a state-by-state analysis of the economic impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade and investment agreement.
In Utah, the TPP agreement is expected to increase cash receipts and net exports by $59.6 million and $39.3 million per year respectively. It is estimated that the increased marketing opportunities for Utah farmers will add more than 300 jobs to the state’s economy.
Nationally, the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates annual net farm income will increase by $4.4 billion, driven by an increase of direct U.S. agricultural exports of $5.3 billion per year upon full implementation of the TPP agreement.
“This report verifies what farmers in Utah know to be true,” said Utah Farm Bureau President Ron Gibson. “Access to new and emerging markets like those in the TPP is critical to growing our state’s farm economy and creating new opportunities for Utah farm families.”
Eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers on Utah’s agricultural exports to TPP-partner countries will increase trade for a range of Utah agricultural products, including pork, beef and processed food products. Export sales make an important contribution to Utah’s farm economy, which had total cash receipts of $2.4 billion in 2014.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will tear down trade barriers and help level the playing field for U.S. agricultural exports to 11 nations across the Pacific Rim. Ratifying TPP will boost annual net farm income in the United States by $4.4 billion, compared to not approving the pact, according to an economic analysis conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
“TPP will mean a boat-load of expanded exports and increased demand for America’s agricultural products,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said. “Clearly, America’s farmers and ranchers have much to gain from approval of TPP and we support its ratification. American agriculture is a growth industry, and to continue that trend, we must expand our market opportunities.”
Not approving the trade deal would have adverse effects, too.
“While our farmers and ranchers have a lot to gain with passage, the consequences of not approving the deal would be harmful,” Duvall said. “Every day we delay means lost markets as other TPP countries implement the deal’s advantages with each other. We are already arriving at the party late because, right now, expanded trade due to TPP is going on across the Pacific Rim – just without us.”
While procedural steps along the way will take time, Duvall said “the sooner TPP is ratified, the better it will be for American agriculture.”
Farm Bureau’s analysis forecasts farm-price increases beef and dairy products.
Utah’s cattle industry leads all other agricultural industries in the state with more than $800 million in cash receipts in 2014. TPP passage is expected to increase beef cash receipts by $5.4 million per year, which is driven by a $5 million per year increase in direct exports to TPP countries.
Utah’s dairy industry produced $514 million in cash receipts in 2014. TPP passage is expected to increase dairy cash receipts by $2.5 million per year, which is driven by a $1.2 million per year increase in direct exports to TPP countries.
In 2014, Utah’s exported $355.1 million of processed foods to TPP countries. As of 2012, there were 14,782 employees in Utah’s food manufacturing sector, with the largest subsector being dairy product manufacturing at 35% of food manufacturing.
The agreement has been approved by negotiators from the 12 TPP nations. The U.S. International Trade Commission is preparing an official analysis for the administration, which will formally ask Congress to ratify the deal.
The full report is available at: http://www.fb.org/issues/tpp/
