Agriculture groups late last week (April 11-15, 2022) urged the Biden administration to oppose changes to the tariff elimination terms of the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement.
The National Pork Producers Council and other groups made the request to the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The agreement, which went into effect in October 2012, is still in the process of being fully implemented, with gradual annual tariff reductions and increases in tariff rate quotas, or TRQs.
Panama’s TRQs for pork, chicken, dairy, corn and several other commodities have been in place for ten years, and several have another ten years to go before free trade with Panama is achieved. Under the agreement, the country can also impose temporary safeguards on certain import-sensitive agricultural products as it transitions to a more open market. In March, the Panamanian government submitted a formal request to revise the agricultural tariff elimination terms of the TPA. The agriculture groups urge the administration to oppose any changes to agricultural tariffs, TRQs or safeguards.
