Farmers Group Longs for TPP, Hoping for Port Congestion to Ease
Farmers who produce several sorts of commodities continue to regret the U.S. retreat from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and want the administration to prioritize opening markets for their goods in Southeast Asia, according to a Farmers for Free Trade panel held virtually.
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A representative of Guimarra, a fruit marketing company that sells fruit and some vegetables grown in California, the Northwest, Mexico and in South America, said that logistics is the biggest hurdle now for his company. Fernando Soberanes, director of Long Beach operations for Guimarra, said that Peruvian grape exporters are concerned about the delays in Southern California, and that even though there are some technologies to extend the shelf life of the fruit, the company is also trying to divert ships to other ports, such as Houston, so not everything is so focused on LA and Long Beach. "We are expecting a little less product to come to the us, given the situation," he said.
Farmers, an agriculture economist and a port director talked about how trade decisions and COVID-19 have affected their industries.
Manuel Almira, director of the Palm Beach, Florida, port, said 700,000 tons of raw sugar are imported through his port, and he helps food importers by directing winter melons to a foreign-trade zone so they can benefit from tariff deferment. But Almira said that most of the import containers that arrive in Palm Beach are empty, and $2 billion worth goods are exported through his port to islands in the Caribbean annually.
Almira said that when cruises stopped during the pandemic, cargo volumes to the Caribbean dropped by 7%, which was primarily food for the tourist market and the ships themselves. "This past year we broke even, and we have already seen significant increases in cargo," he said.
Debra Gangwish, whose family runs a corn, soybean, farm, cattle and trucking business in Nebraska with 22 full-time employees, said, "Corn farmers have benefited greatly from phase one in China," but said that they still want the U.S. to return to the TPP. Exports provide 33% of a corn farmer’s income, she said.
AV Roth, a fifth generation farmer in Wisconsin with a large hog operation, said one-third of the average value of a U.S. hog is because of exports. He said the recent market opening in the Philippines was great, but that the administration should also work on comprehensive agreements like the TPP. He also said he hopes the announcement of 24/7 port operations in California will clear the backlog for exporters.
Doug Chapin, who runs a dairy farm in Michigan with 675 milking cows in addition to having an interest in two dairy ingredient plants and a cheese plant in Indiana, said that the port issues make diary exporters look a little unreliable as suppliers. He said that New Zealand and the European Union are not having the same port issues. Last year, more than 15% of domestic milk was exported, he said.