The American Soybean Association (ASA) has testified before the United States
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to present its views
on international trade issues, including the need for Congress to approve pending
free trade agreements (FTAs).
"ASA was pleased with the President’s commitment to double the value
of US exports under the National Export Initiative," said ASA Vice President
Danny Murphy. "Efforts to achieve this goal in the agriculture sector will
require Congressional approval of the pending FTAs with Colombia, South Korea,
and Panama, negotiation of new FTAs with key importing countries, and progress
on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation regional agreement."
Soybeans are the second largest commodity in the US in terms of annual acreage
and value, with 78m acres planted and a farm-gate value of USD32bn in 2009.
Soybeans and soybean products are the most important US export commodity, with
sales exceeding USD21bn last year. This represented over 50% of US soybean production
and 21% of total US agricultural exports in 2009.
With regard to identifying countries for new FTAs, ASA has said the administration
should focus on countries with the greatest potential to expand imports of US
products. Several of the existing FTAs, it said, are with important trading
partners, including Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Chile, but some are not.
US soybean producer priorities for the first group of countries to engage in
new negotiations include: the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) countries
of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam, either collectively
through ASEAN or individually; India; Turkey; and Egypt.
As a prerequisite for initiating negotiations on new FTAs, ASA has also encouraged
the Administration to address and resolve any outstanding sanitary and phytosanitary
issues that may exist with each negotiating partner. This would be important
to ensure that countries do not use these issues as non-tariff barriers following
implementation of an FTA, negating its benefits.
Murphy also spoke in favour of renewing Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which
allows the President to submit trade agreements to Congress for an up-or-down
vote, without amendment. "Negotiation of new FTAs will require renewal
of TPA, which is a top priority for ASA," he said.
In addition, ASA has also previously advocated the taking of action against
the use of differential export taxes used by US competitors to effectively subsidize
the export of processed products.
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