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NFU delegates oppose Korea/U.S. FTA

National Farmers Union delegates adopted a special order of business at their recent convention in San Antonio strongly opposing the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement.  The action also opposes the other recent FTAs, in Colombia and Panama, which, like the Korea FTA, have yet to be sent to Congress for ratification.

NFU President Roger Johnson says the Korea FTA “replicates many of the most troubling provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).” Johnson adds that those past free trade agreements “have not performed as promised for U.S. agriculture.”

Johnson says NFU cannot support the Korea/U.S. FTA as written because it would increase the U.S .Trade deficit by about 400-Million dollars and cost nearly 160-thousand U.S. jobs in its first seven years.

What Johnson says NFU also finds troubling is the agreement contains “no provisions to counter Korean currency manipulations.”