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 could reduce tariffs and open new markets to agricultural trade efforts if approved by Congress.
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: nuts, cotton and poultry.
More details are expected to be released in coming weeks. As of right now, according to the USDA, the deal would benefit Georgia by:
Cotton: Vietnamese tariffs, currently as high as 10 percent, will be eliminated. Japanese and Malaysian tariffs will be locked in at 0 percent.
Poultry: Japan and Vietnam will eliminate tariffs. Malaysia will establish tariff-rate quotas for live chicks, poultry meat and eggs.
Fruits: Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam will eliminate tariffs on all fresh and processed fruits, including citrus.
Nuts: Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam will eliminate tariffs on all tree nuts, including almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts and walnuts.
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