UFPA leader not surprised over TPP withdrawal

Tom Stenzel, president & CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA), said in a statement Tuesday that the UFPA was not surprised that President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement, known as TPP, on his first full weekday in office.

“As we know, Congress was not likely to confirm the agreement in any case,” Stenzel said in a statement. “But now is the time to move past anti-trade rhetoric and begin the process of building consensus for the key portions of the agreement that had been negotiated in the TPP.”

The TPP was a trade deal between 12 nations representing more than 40 percent of the global economy. Now there are only 11 nations.

Stenzel said that U.S. agriculture and U.S. consumers benefit from trade, and exports to the Asian Pacific countries are a critical opportunity for U.S. producers.

“Beyond that, the TPP was the first major agreement that began to build strong rules for countries to prevent putting up protectionist measures in the form of sanitary and phytosanitary barriers,” he added. “Without this agreement, we fall back to an environment where countries can simply choose to block imports without scientific justification.”

Stenzel said the UFPA encourages Trump and the new administration to come to the table to renegotiate agricultural agreements as soon as possible.

“Our potential trading partners won’t sit idly by, but will find other partners and leave the United States behind,” he added. “Most importantly, America deserves real trade agreements that benefit both consumers and producers.”