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Let's have free and fair trade with Peru, Panama and ColombiaBy Cheryl Stubbendieck Nebraska Farm Bureau vice president/public relations Kudos to the House of Representatives for adopting a free trade agreement with Peru on Nov. 8. Now the Senate should do likewise--and then both houses should adopt similar agreements with Panama and Colombia. The Peru Trade Promotion Agreement represents a $705 million opportunity for increased agricultural exports. Currently U.S. agriculture faces an average tariff of 18 percent exporting into Peru. But 99 percent of agricultural products from Peru enter the U.S. duty-free because of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. Unless the agreement is adopted, Peru will continue to have duty-free access to our markets and U.S. agriculture will get nothing in return except competition in our own backyard. Passage of the Peru TPA will give our agriculture industry the same open access to Peru as Peru has in our markets--the more level playing field farmers have been seeking. Peru must import food to meet the needs of its people. Right now that food is coming from countries such as Chile, Argentina and Canada. With adoption of the agreement, the U.S. will have the opportunity to better compete and gain market share from those countries. The agreement enables all U.S. agricultural exports--meat, fiber, grains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables--to enter Peru duty-free after full implementation is reached--meaning the gain in exports would be well-distributed across all sectors of U.S. agriculture. And while the potential benefit for agriculture under the Peru trade agreements is $705 million a year, it could increase total U.S. exports to Peru by $1 billion a year. And speaking of the B--Billion--word--the annual impact for agriculture would be nearly $1.5 billion annually if--when--agreements are also approved and fully implemented with Panama and Colombia. As the late U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen used to say, "A billion here, a billion there--pretty soon you're talking about real money." The U.S. should go after this real money and approve these trade agreements. Date: 11/20/07
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