US farmers risk losing valuable market share to foreign competitors without new free trade deals, the US agriculture secretary said on Friday, as the Bush administration prepares to push this autumn for passage of four pending trade deals.
Without new agreements to smooth access into new markets, US farmers could lose out to countries like Australia in beef trade, or to Brazil in soybeans, Secretary Mike Johanns said in an interview. "I would really worry that you would just start slipping," ... You would be fighting even to keep your market share he said.
Congress is considering trade deals with Peru, Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. But the Bush administration's trade agenda appears in jeopardy. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab has reached out to lawmakers in recent months in hopes of ushering those deals toward a vote, but deep political divisions on trade have made it an uphill battle.
Some influential lawmakers have come out against the agreements with Colombia and with South Korea. The deal with South Korea, already the sixth largest market for US farm goods, is the most lucrative of the set, and could leverage the US position in the Asian nation competitors China and Australia.
Yet it's unclear even if the least contentious agreements, with Peru and Panama, will go to a vote anytime soon. The Bush administration is also now without its legal authority to broker new expedited trade deals, and there is no sign of when it could be renewed.
Still, Johanns sees trade as a pillar for US farm income, even as farmers enjoy record run in prices for some crops, and demand for corn booms along with the buurgeoning US ethanol industry. Up to three-quarters of animal hides are exported, for example, while trade is "live or die" for other industries, like pork, he said.
Johanns also remains confident that trading nations can overcome long-standing differences and achieve a new world trade deal in the World Trade Organisation's fractious Doha round. The latest meetings in the round begin next week.
But just Thursday, French Economy Minister Christine Laguard said wide gaps between the major players in the round would preclude an agreement in the near future. France is a major voice on agriculture in the European Union.
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