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Ag groups frustrated with latest FTA delay

Representatives of major ag organizations are expressing their frustration with continued delays in passage of three pending free trade agreements.

 The groups held a joint news conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge the Obama administration to send the FTAs to Congress immediately.

 The latest obstacle in the path to FTA approval is the Obama administration’s insistence that Congress extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program before moving forward on the FTAs.  The TAA program provides job training, relocation allowances and unemployment pay for workers who lost their job due to foreign trade.

American Farm Bureau president Bob Stallman says it’s all part of what he calls “the grand game” that’s played in Washington.

“We do not want to see a continuing moving of the goalpost though, in terms of what it takes to get these deals done. The clock is ticking. We are losing markets,” Stallman says.

Dana Peterson is the CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers.

“These agreements are about keeping our marketshare and even building market share in these countries. They’re about jobs. Jobs on the farm and jobs off the farm. It’s time to break the logjam and bring these agreements forward,” says Peterson.

AUDIO: News conference comments from Dana Peterson and Bob Stallman (8 min MP3)

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Bill Donald says the FTAs are “a stimulus package that doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.” 

National Pork Producers Council president Doug Wolf says the deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea will add more than 11 dollars to the price producers receive for each hog.