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Posts Tagged: Trade

Displaying 2 of 7 Total Records

December 8, 2015

Two New Reports Show TPP has Major Agricultural, Labor and Environmental Deficiencies

TPP, Trade

TPP-Takes-Away-JobsSeveral major deficiencies in the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact (TPP) – including failure to address currency manipulation or set in place adequate labor and environmental standards – are clear evidence that passage of this pact would hurt American food processors, family farmers and ranchers, while also posing serious threats to U.S. domestic beef production and prices, according to two advisory reports submitted today to the USTR.

The minority report to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade (APAC), released last week, argues, “passage [of the TPP] will reduce American food processing jobs, labor standards and farm gate prices and result in increased imports and decreased exports of American agricultural products.” The report was submitted by Chandler Goule, National Farmers Union Senior Vice President of Programs, and Mark Lauritsen, UFCW International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division.

The authors point out that currency manipulation, which for years has caused American job losses and increased the U.S. trade deficit, is totally unaddressed by the TPP. “This deficit damages the entire economy and has impeded job growth and income gains,” they point out. “Since this is unaddressed, it could nullify the tariff reductions, harming the export potential of many American sectors including and especially beef.”

The report also notes that the TPP would fail, “to place labor and environmental standards on equal footing with economic rights and elimination of sustainability preferences.”

“Regrettably, the labor chapter reflects only incremental improvements over past agreements like NAFTA and will not offset the low labor standards currently existing in many TPP signatories,” note Goule and Lauritsen. “Driven by the attraction of low wages, the U.S. is vulnerable to loss of food processing jobs.”

A similar minority report from the Animal and Animal Products Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade (ATAC), which was also released today, notes that passage of the TPP would pose serious threats both to rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd and to domestic beef production. This is evidenced by:

  • Since the passage of NAFTA, 50 plants have closed taking out 52,695 in daily kill capacity.
  • On January 1, 2014, beef cow numbers fell to their lowest level since 1941.
  • Total commercial cattle slaughter in 2015 will fall below 30 million for the first time since 1963, when it totaled 27.232 million. This year’s total is expected to be down 4% to 5% from 2014.
  • For fed beef packers, 2015 fed steer and heifer slaughter is expected to decline about 3.5%, or 850,000, from last year.
  • Nine processing plants have closed since the start of 2013, representing a slaughter capacity 3.7 million annually.
  • Since 2007 cattle numbers fell by 8.843 million as of 2014. This forced Cargill in February 2013 to close its Plainview, Texas, plant costing 2,000 high paying union jobs with good benefits. Four other U.S. beef plants have since closed causing the loss of an additional 2500 high paying jobs.

Kurt Brandt, UFCW’s Assistant to the Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division was a signatory to the ATAC minority report.

“Clearly, the U.S. Trade Representative was out-negotiated in this case,” notes Brandt. “The series of NAFTA-style free trade agreement passed over the past two decades has led to increasing live cattle imports that have directly depressed U.S. cattle prices, and impeded herd rebuilding. Increasing beef imports allowed by ongoing trade deregulation suppresses U.S. beef prices, and further delays herd rebuilding.”

“The primary beneficiaries of this agreement [the TPP], i.e., global food processing companies, would be further empowered to move more of their U.S. jobs overseas,” Brandt wrote. “This means that claims of increased benefits for U.S. food and agricultural production rings hollow, because much of the increasing foreign demand for food will be met by processing plants being built in other countries – including plants built overseas by U.S.-based companies.”

November 24, 2015

UFCW President Perrone Challenges Members of Congress to Read the TPP in Op-Ed Published in The Hill

Perrone, TPP, Trade

TPP Will Congress Pledge to Read_Dome ArtUFCW International President Marc Perrone, wrote an Op-Ed in The Hill that challenges every Member of Congress to pledge that they will read the entire Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) before they vote on it.

The following are excerpts from the Op-Ed:

“What does it take to bring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump together? One terrible trade deal – the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

“The reasoning behind this diverse opposition is simple – the TPP is a massive giveaway to corporate special interests that will give hardworking Americans two things they can’t afford – lost jobs and lower wages.

“To any Member of Congress who truly believes that this trade pact is good for America, we only have one thing to say – read it.

“Members of Congress who support TPP should have the courage to publicly confirm to the people of this country that they have read every word of this massive 6,000 page trade deal before they vote for it.

“Unaccountable trade representatives negotiated the deal in nearly complete secrecy, and it’s clear that corporate lawyers stuffed it full of complicated, dense, legal language that benefits their special interest clients at the expense of everyone else.

“This deal might be good for corporate donors, but for a vast majority of Americans it spells disaster and must be stopped.

“We hazard to guess that not one supporter of TPP in Congress has ever read the full text, which naturally begs the question, why are they planning to vote for it?

“We urge anyone who believes in building a better America to join us in this effort. Simply asking Congress to read a trade bill before they vote on it shouldn’t be too much to ask for.”

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