WASHINGTON, D.C. — While pressure is growing on Canada to negotiate supply management compromises with the United States, that country is feeling a lot of internal pressure to complete a Trans Pacific Partnership agreement.
The superpower sees a successful TPP as both an economic and strategic priority, according to the U.S. chief agriculture negotiator.
“If we don’t do this, others will,” said Darci Vetter in a meeting with North American agriculture journalists April 27.
“We need to stay in that game and make sure we’re getting access to these markets.”
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Vetter said China would like to set the trading rules for the Asia-Pacific region, so if the U.S. wants American-preferred rules instead, it had better complete something like the TPP.
“If we don’t, our other key competitor in that region, China, is waiting and willing to do the same.”
Vetter said the U.S. has much to gain from TPP for agriculture trade because “the United States has a relatively open agriculture market.… We don’t have that far to go.”
Canadian supply management controls have been an ongoing bone of contention between U.S. and Canadian governments, and U.S. congressional agriculture leaders and agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack recently demanded Canada begin negotiating better access.
