Key trade deal is going unnoticed

COMMENTARY
From Josh Rolph, director of international trade, farm policy, taxation and plant health for the California Farm Bureau Federation:

The last two decades have been marked by a flurry of activity in global trade. Markets have opened for California producers and created promising and beneficial trading relationships. California agricultural exports are expanding and buoying up the state's otherwise struggling economy.

There is no doubt agricultural trade has played an important role in the economy. During the last 10 years, for example, U.S. farm exports have more than doubled—even growing by leaps and bounds during the recession. This holds true for California, where agricultural exports continue to be a bright spot in the state's economy.

The U.S. has engaged in multiple trade agreements during the last two decades that have resulted in new foreign partners and markets for California's agricultural production. Recent deals between the U.S. and Panama, Colombia and Korea have demonstrated our nation's commitment to this cause. President Obama's National Export Initiative, announced in his State of the Union address in 2010, aims to double exports by the end of 2014.

Market access is the only way to reach that goal.

In almost every case, trade agreements prove contentious, and we at Farm Bureau have attempted to influence negotiations by representing the interests of each of our commodities. As our policy states, "we believe that trade must be based on principles of fairness." At times, however, there are trade agreements that seem to fly under the radar of most groups because they are less controversial. That may well apply to a potential agreement that, if anything, is getting almost no attention at all: the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Read more in Ag Alert.