The American Soybean Association (ASA) this week hosted a roundtable to discuss the future of U.S. agriculture trade.

Jonathan Cordone, deputy under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS), led the discussion on international trade initiatives and priorities of the current administration and how the agricultural sector will be affected.

Representatives from commodity groups, exporters and the Missouri Department of Agriculture Director attended the discussion, which centered on the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to agriculture and the U.S. economy as a whole.  Discussions also centered on specific benefits to various U.S. ag sectors, and how U.S. exports will be at a disadvantage to some of our competitors in markets such as Japan, that have entered in bilateral free trade agreements with other countries.

Cordone pointed out that 2/3 of the world’s middle class will be in Asia by 2030, and the TPP really is really the mechanism to provide access to these consumers – both through the current TPP countries and the other countries that have expressed their interest to join in the future.

Discussion touched on a study by the non-partisan Peterson Institute for International Economic that analyzed the cost of delaying implementation of the TPP. The analysis found that even a one year delay of U.S. implementation would result in a permanent loss to the U.S. economy of $94 billion – or about $700 for every U.S. household.

Reference was made to a May 2, 2016, op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post where President Barack Obama made the case that the rules for trade in Asia and the Pacific are going to be written by someone. The question before us and the Congress is whether we want the United States to write the rules as has been done in the TPP, or whether we will withdraw and let China write the rules to its advantage.

Also discussed during the roundtable were European Union (EU) market access issues, including biotechnology approvals and herbicide reauthorizations.