Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts says the agriculture community should not worry that President Donald Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, because he believes bilateral trade agreements can still be reached with the other countries involved in the negotiations.
Roberts, R-Kansas, spoke at the Montana Ag Summit on June 1 about trade issues that impact U.S. agriculture.
The TPP agreement had involved the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam and Peru. He complimented the attitude of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who had told Roberts there was no reason that the U.S. couldn’t approach the TPP countries for individual trade agreements.
Trade with Japan, South Korea
Roberts specifically mentioned Japan as one TPP country with which the U.S. has a great potential for bilateral trade. In addition to the TPP nations, Roberts also believes the U.S. has the potential for trade with South Korea. During the U.S. Senate’s break, Roberts said he visited with both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, and Kim Jae-soo, the agriculture minister of South Korea.
And while there are political concerns in Asia, Roberts was encouraged.
“Right now, they’re a little worried about some fella named Kim Jong-un (the North Korean leader) that’s not behaving himself, and that’s to be expected. But we can trade with South Korea, and we can trade with Japan,” he said.
