LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas agriculture stands to be among the winners if Congress passes trade promotion authority (TPA), introduced Thursday and expected to be in committee next week.

Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach said agriculture is the country’s leading exporter and would benefit greatly from passage of the proposed legislation, which allows the administration expanded latitude to negotiate international trade agreements. Veach said TPA allows trade decisions to be made without getting caught in a political tug-of-war.

“We will continue to work closely with our members of Congress to help them understand how important this proposal is to Arkansas farmers and ranchers,” Veach said. “We know the six members of Congress from Arkansas each understand the impact that Arkansas agriculture has on the state’s economy. Passage of this legislation stands to benefit almost every sector of the agriculture economy, including livestock production, row crops and the timber industry.”

Arkansas Farm Bureau led a delegation of its county presidents to Washington, D.C. in early March, and discussed the need for trade promotion authority with members of Congress while there.

“Enabling trade promotion authority can only help Arkansas agriculture. We believe this is a better way to facilitate trade agreements,” Veach said.

Veach is a member of the board of directors of the Arkansas World Trade Center and has taken agricultural trade missions to Panama, Mexico, China, Korea, Japan, Belgium and Switzerland. 

“We must be responsive to the trading environment around the world,” Veach said. “Other countries are in the middle of deep negotiations for expanded trade opportunities. If, and when, those negotiations are completed, the U.S. stands to be cut out of those markets. 

“The rest of the world will not wait around for the U.S. to come to political and economic agreements, and that has hurt us in the past. It is important for the U.S. trade ambassador, and the president, to avoid the pitfalls of political infighting and work for the betterment of U.S. trade. Authorizing this legislation will help in that effort.

Veach indicated passage of TPA would help with the ongoing negotiations underway over the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP).

“With 30 percent of our state’s agricultural products exported annually, Arkansas agriculture is ready, and capable, of fulfilling our part of the U.S.’s stated objective of doubling exports in the next five years,” said Veach, a cotton, soybean and corn farmer from Manila (Mississippi County). “Other countries want U.S. farm products, and we need our trade laws to allow us to more effectively negotiate within the world marketplace.”

The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 was introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah, Rep. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill would enable a negotiated trade deal to be voted on by Congress, without amendment, avoiding the time constraints often placed on legislation by special-interest amendments.