THE American Soybean Association (ASA) is disappointed that the European Union has voted on a mandate to move forward with an EU-US Free Trade Agreement that excludes agriculture, reports the American Journal of Transportation.
The EU is a critically important market for US food exports, including soybeans. Soybeans exported to the EU in 2017 were valued at US$1.6 billion. ASA applauded the initial decision to launch comprehensive negotiations between the US and European Union in order to liberalise trade and investment in a variety of sectors.
'We had high hopes that some of the longstanding concerns regarding the EU's policies on agricultural biotechnology and on revising the EU's pesticide laws would be addressed,' said ASA president Davie Stephens, a Kentucky soy grower.
'With the EU now formally excluding ag, it will be difficult if not impossible to address these non-tariff barriers that severely inhibit trade between our countries.'
US Trade Representative's chief agriculture negotiator Gregg Doud lashed out at the EU over its farm policies, saying last month that 'We can no longer let the EU get away with circulating a false narrative that EU agriculture is superior to the rest of the world.'
The EU also underscored that it wouldn't agree to any deal as long as the current metals tariffs are in place and that it would be able to 'suspend negotiations unilaterally if the US were to impose further trade restrictions against European products.'
WORLD SHIPPING
The EU is a critically important market for US food exports, including soybeans. Soybeans exported to the EU in 2017 were valued at US$1.6 billion. ASA applauded the initial decision to launch comprehensive negotiations between the US and European Union in order to liberalise trade and investment in a variety of sectors.
'We had high hopes that some of the longstanding concerns regarding the EU's policies on agricultural biotechnology and on revising the EU's pesticide laws would be addressed,' said ASA president Davie Stephens, a Kentucky soy grower.
'With the EU now formally excluding ag, it will be difficult if not impossible to address these non-tariff barriers that severely inhibit trade between our countries.'
US Trade Representative's chief agriculture negotiator Gregg Doud lashed out at the EU over its farm policies, saying last month that 'We can no longer let the EU get away with circulating a false narrative that EU agriculture is superior to the rest of the world.'
The EU also underscored that it wouldn't agree to any deal as long as the current metals tariffs are in place and that it would be able to 'suspend negotiations unilaterally if the US were to impose further trade restrictions against European products.'
WORLD SHIPPING