It rankles to have to do the wrong thing for a good end. Months after he promised to double exports, President Obama is holding three trade deals hostage to union demands, refusing to submit Korean, Colombian and Panama Free Trade Agreements to Congress for their approval. Without renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance, the agreements won't be approved, and agriculture will be the big loser.
We're spending about a billion dollars a year on trade adjustment assistance. The program is supposed to train workers who lose their jobs because of imports, and it also allows for extended unemployment benefits, in some cases up to three years. The U.S. Department of Labor is four years late on delivering a study of the program, so no one really knows whether the program accomplishes its goals.
It's not important politically whether the program works, because the unions have veto power over legislation introduced, and they're exercising that veto. If we want the trade deals - and agriculture most certainly should want the deals - Congress needs to hold it's nose and approve the trade adjustment assistance.
As Tom T. Hall would say, "thats just the way things is."
If all three trade deals are approved, agriculture stands to gain $2.5 billion in exports each and every year. Korea, the largest of the three markets, presently places tariffs of up to 500% on U.S. ag imports. The Free Trade Agreement would eliminate those tariffs. Columbia already has access to U.S. markets without tariffs - U.S. workers have absolutely nothing to fear from Colombian competition, because Colombian exports already enter the U.S. tariff free, while we're paying 30% duties on our ag exports to Columbia.
The same situation holds for trade between the U.S. and Panama.
We've dithered over the approval of these deals for years, while our competitors have moved forward with free trade agreements. We've lost half of our former market in Colombia, and competitors have recently inked trade deals with all three countries.
Farmers need these deals, and they need them now. The tax on economic activity that we have to pay to the President's supporters is upsetting, but the place to settle that fight is at the ballot box. Congress needs to move forward with both trade adjustment assistance and the three free trade agreements.