Feds point to gains for Georgia farmers in Trans-Pacific trade deal
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has put out a new fact sheet identifying how Georgia’s already booming agriculture interests would benefit from the new Trans-Pacific Partnership — the 12-nation pact agreed to earlier this week in Atlanta.
It’s part of the federal agency’s graphic state-by-state breakdown of how the trade deal, if approved by Congress, could reduce tariffs and open new markets to agricultural trade efforts.
The countries involved in the deal — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam — already account for 42 percent of U.S. agricultural exports. In Georgia, farming and agribusiness remain the state’s oldest and most dominant economic sector, responsible for a $70 billion impact each year.
The state, which currently exports more than $18 billion in goods and services to countries involved in the trade agreement, could see increases in what are already three of its top exports: cotton, nuts and poultry.
More details are expected to be released in the coming weeks. As of now, according to the USDA, the deal would benefit Georgia in these areas:
- Cotton: Vietnamese tariffs, currently as high as 10 percent, would be eliminated. Japanese and Malaysian tariffs would be locked in at 0 percent.
- Fruits: Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam would eliminate tariffs on all fresh and processed fruits, including citrus.
- Nuts: Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam would eliminate tariffs on all tree nuts, including almonds, macadamia nuts, pecans and walnuts.
- Poultry: Japan and Vietnam would eliminate tariffs. Malaysia would establish tariff-rate quotas for live chicks, poultry meat and eggs.
