The letter calls the Asia-Pacific region the world’s largest market for food and agriculture. The signees urge the President for better trade deals and market access, even after he withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“While many in our sector strongly supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, we hope future agreements build upon the valuable aspects of that agreement to increase our market access in the Asia-Pacific,” says the letter. “We welcome an opportunity to work with your Administration to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers, processors and food companies do not fall behind our foreign peers in this vitally important economic region.”
In addition to the economic benefits of agricultural trade, the letter says a relationship with Asia will help create jobs in the U.S. – an issue Trump focused on heavily during his campaign.
“The food and agricultural industry from farm to fork employs more than 15 million Americans,” the letter says. “The U.S. food and beverage industry alone represents 12 per cent of all U.S. manufacturing jobs, making it the largest employer in the manufacturing sector.”
To show exactly how important agricultural exports are to the American economy, the U.S. Grains Council set up an interactive map. Users can click on different regions within each state to get an idea of the economic and employment contributions of different crops and operations.