The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, covering 12 Pacific Rim nations with 40 percent of the world economy, “has drawn heavy lobbying from some of America’s largest agribusinesses,” says the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. In addition to Cargill, the giant food company, and the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest U.S. farm group, “Monsanto, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Caterpillar, Dairy Farmers of America, the National Pork Producers Council, Louis Dreyfus Commodities, several state-level farm bureaus and a long list of other agribusiness powerhouses have all reported lobbying on the trade deal,” says the center.
Officials from Cargill and the Illinois Corn Marketing Board said agriculture would benefit from TPP because it will remove obstacles to U.S. farm exports. An AFBF spokesman said South Korea and Indonesia were among countries that have expressed interest in joining TPP if it is ratified. Skeptics say TPP might hurt U.S. employment and open the door to imports.
Trade ministers concluded nearly a decade of negotiations over TPP in October and the text of the 30-chapter agreement was released in early November. Now, each of the nations will decide whether to ratify it. In the United States, a vote in Congress is unlikely before mid-2016 because of the time allotted for review of the document. A vote could occur later, say analysts, because of the political tensions of the 2016 presidential campaign and the possibility of delays in drafting the bill to implement TPP.