Coalition Urges Senate Passage of TPA

February 26, 2002

The Agriculture Coalition for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) has called on the Senate to quickly pass TPA legislation. In a letter sent to each senator, the coalition noted that without TPA legislation, the WTO negotiations launched in Doha, which are critical to the future of U.S. agriculture, will be undermined. The Agriculture Coalition for TPA represents food and agriculture groups dedicated to the passage of legislation granting the president Trade Promotion Authority. It is co-chaired by the National Pork Producers Council and Farmland Industries. They told the Senate that the Finance Committee's "overwhelming bipartisan support for TPA sets the stage for prompt Senate floor action." The letter added, The people we represent - American farmers, ranchers, and food and agriculture companies and their workers - are particularly dependent on trade for their economic success. Their success in the future - indeed, for some, their very survival - will depend on the elimination of high tariffs, subsidies, and non-tariff barriers that are locking them out of foreign markets."

If the United States is to provide the leadership in the trade talks that "we expect and demand," other countries must know that U.S. negotiators are backed by formal negotiating authority from Congress," the letter continued. "Enacting TPA legislation as soon as possible, therefore, is not an option; it is a must. We urge you, therefore, to act expeditiously in passing TPA so that America once again can regain its position as a world leader for free and fair trade and, in so doing, open a new world of opportunity for U.S. agriculture.