National Farmers Union hopes Congress will stop TPP

The National Farmers Union (NFU) continues to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that was signed by a U.S. Trade Representative this month. 

The NFU believes the trade pact will do more harm to United States trade and the trade deficit. TPP is set to be sent to Congress for debate and a vote, without the allowance of amendments.

“TPP is modeled after the failed deals of the past, and it is destined to fail,” Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, said. “Those past deals worsened America’s trade deficit, did nothing to stop our foreign competitors from cheating the system, and failed to live up to a long list of promises.”

Johnson and NFU members representing farmers from all 50 states want Congress to reject the partnership as it is now. Johnson testified to Congress in January that the TPP does not do enough to hold trading partners accountable and needs to focus more on U.S. trade balance and less on reducing tariffs. Johnson reminded Congress of the trade imbalance that caused a 6 percent jump in the trade deficit in 2014, despite trade deals with 20 countries.

“TPP is a bad deal for rural and urban America alike,” Johnson said. “We encourage all members of Congress to carefully read the text and ask the hard questions that have, thus far, gone unanswered. Once they do, we believe legislators will vote no and demand better negotiations in the future.”