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CapitalPress.com
November 13, 2015
Groups scrutinize TPP’s fine print
White House
releases 30-chapter
trade pact
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson File
Loaded container trucks line up at the Port of Seattle in this 2015
file photo. A new bill has been introduced in the U.S. House to
prevent costly work slowdowns such as the one that took place
last winter.
Newhouse, Schrader
introduce ports bill
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
A bill aimed at preventing
future work disruptions at
U.S. ports has been introduced
in the U.S. House by Reps.
Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and
Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.
The bill sets up automatic
triggers to start the Taft-Hart-
ley Act process in the event of
future labor or management
actions disrupting U.S. ports.
The Ensuring Continued
Operations and No Other
Major Incidents, Closures or
Slowdowns — the acronym
is ECONOMICS — Act, HR
3932, was introduced Nov.
5. It is in response to a May
2014 through February 2015
slowdown of container cargo
through 29 West Coast ports.
The slowdown cost up to $2.5
billion per day and contribut-
ed to an anemic 0.2 percent
annual growth in the first
quarter of 2015, Sen. John
Thune, R-S.D., has said.
Thune introduced a bill
last May that would set up an
early warning system of ab-
normal port operations.
“We must take the lesson
of the most recent ports slow-
down to heart: that two parties
cannot hold hostage the na-
tion’s economy,” Newhouse
said in introducing the bill
with Schrader.
“The crisis cost Oregon
jobs, millions of dollars in
economic growth and pro-
ductivity and, eventually,
the loss of its largest con-
tainer shipper, Hanjin, from
the Port of Portland — a hit
that we will not know the
full magnitude of for a few
years,” Schrader said.
Newhouse expects the bill
will be referred to the House
Education and Workforce
Committee but it also could
go to the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, said
Will Boyington, Newhouse’s
communications director.
In announcing a draft of
the legislation a month ago,
Newhouse expressed opti-
mism it could be passed and
signed by the president be-
fore the end of next year.
“I’m hopeful we will have
enough people on both sides
of the aisle that it will be seen
as a positive step forward to
prevent economic losses. So
I would hope the administra-
tion would look on it posi-
tively,” Newhouse said.
The bill is co-sponsored
by Reps. Cathy McMorris
Rodgers, R-Wash.; Greg
Walden, R-Ore.; Dave Re-
ichert, R-Wash.; Doug La-
Malfa, R-Calif.; Tom Cole,
R-Okla.; Steve Stivers,
R-Ohio; and Fred Upton,
R-Mich.
“The success of Ameri-
can agriculture is tied to our
ability to dependably export
our farm and ranch goods to
overseas buyers,” said Bob
Stallman, American Farm
Bureau Federation president,
in backing the bill.
The bill would require a
board of inquiry be convened
to determine whether to rec-
ommend a court injunction
to end a dispute when four
or more ports are involved,
when 6,000 or more port
workers are impacted or
when U.S. exports or imports
drop 20 percent or more in
one month.
The bill broadens the defi-
nition of strike throughout
U.S. labor law to clarify the
president can start boards
of inquiry for strikes, slow-
downs, lockouts or threat-
ened strikes or lockouts. That
change also applies to the
triggers requiring the con-
vening of a board.
The bill directs the fed-
eral secretary of transporta-
tion to divide the ports into
four regions: West Coast,
East Coast, Gulf Coast and
Great Lakes. The director of
the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics is directed to devel-
op additional conditions for
appointing a board of inquiry.
The bill is meant to com-
plement HR 3398, the Pro-
tecting Orderly and Respon-
sible Transit of Shipment
(PORTS) Act, sponsored by
Newhouse, Reichert and rep-
resentatives from Colorado
and American Samoa. The
PORTS Act, and a compan-
ion measure in the Senate,
would allow governors of
seaport states and territories
to invoke the Taft-Hartley
Act to order dock workers to
work.
The Obama administra-
tion released the Trans-Pacif-
ic Partnership Agreement’s
full text Nov. 5, giving farm
groups their first chance to
study in detail a trade pact
they had already largely em-
braced.
Hours after the release of
the 30-chapter, 2,000-page
agreement, the Northwest
Horticultural Council’s trust-
ees officially endorsed TPP.
The organization represents
apple, pear and cherry grow-
ers, packers and shippers.
“What is the downside for
our industry? I don’t see one,”
the council’s vice president,
Mark Powers, said. “The con-
sequences of not getting this
approved are significant and
shouldn’t be underestimated.”
The 12-nation TPP prom-
ises to eliminate or reduce
tariffs on food products, depo-
liticize phytosanitary barriers
and set up an agriculture panel
to promote trade and resolve
trade disputes.
U.S. producer groups hope
TPP will help their members
compete in established mar-
kets and reach new custom-
ers, especially middle-class
consumers in Asia.
“It means a whole heck of
a lot to rural Washington state
and our livelihoods,” said
Matt Harris, government re-
lations director for the Wash-
ington State Potato Commis-
sion.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture touted the agree-
ment as a pathway for U.S.
farmers and ranchers to sell
more goods overseas.
“The text confirms that this
agreement provides new mar-
ket access across the board
for America’s farmers and
ranchers by lowering tariffs
and eliminating other barri-
ers, and will boost exports
and support jobs in our rural
economies,” Agriculture Sec-
retary Tom Vilsack said in a
written statement.
President Obama notified
Congress on Nov. 5 that he
intended to sign, triggering a
90-day review by lawmakers.
For months leading up to
the text’s release, the USDA
had published TPP high-
lights. With the agreement
fully disclosed, some North-
west farm groups referred
questions to their parent na-
tional organizations, which
said they will need a few
days to shift through the fine
print.
“There are thousands
of tariff lines, hundreds of
new rules, new chapters
on sanitary and phytosani-
tary requirements, as well
as a whole new chapter on
protecting common food
names,” the National Milk
Producers Federation said
in a written statement. “All
must be thoroughly reviewed
before we can make a more
informed determination of
the final impact of the agree-
ment on the U.S. dairy indus-
try, and are able to determine
whether or not we recom-
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
A ship takes on grain at the Port of Kalama on the Columbia River in Washington. The Obama admin-
istration says the Trans-Pacific Partnership, released Nov. 5, would lead to more export opportunities
for U.S. farmers and ranchers. Critics say the agreement would allow foreign countries to manipulate
the currency to give their producers an edge.
Online
Click here to see the full
text of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership agreement:
https://ustr.gov/trade-agree-
ments/free-trade-agreements/
trans-pacific-partnership/
tpp-full-text
A ship travels on the Columbia River in southwest Washington.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, released Nov. 5, will open overseas
markets for U.S. farmers and ranchers, according to the Obama
administration. A critic warns the 12-nation trade pact will hurt U.S.
agriculture overall.
mend that members of Con-
gress support the agreement.”
TPP critics restated their
complaints about the agree-
ment. National Farmers
Union President Roger John-
son in an interview with the
Capital Press said TPP won’t
stop countries from manipu-
lating their currency to give
their farmers an edge.
“It’s sort of the wet blan-
ket on the whole thing,” he
said.
With the trade pact, TPP
partners released a join dec-
laration pledging not to
weaken currencies to gain
competitive
advantages.
Johnson dismissed the pledge
as unenforceable.
Currency manipulations
could wipe out the benefit of
lower tariffs in some cases,
Johnson said. “Anyone who’s
looking at getting rid of tar-
iffs in the single-digits, this
probably isn’t going to help
much,” he said.
Johnson predicted the
trade surplus U.S. farmers
and ranchers now enjoy will
shrink. Beef producers, for
example, will see more com-
petition from high-end Japa-
nese beef without an offset-
ting gain in access to Japan,
he said.
Worries that U.S. beef pro-
ducers will be hurt by over-
seas competition “couldn’t
be further from the truth,”
said Kent Bacus, associate
director of legislative affairs
by the National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association.
Japan’s 38.5 percent tariff
on beef won’t be eliminated,
but it will drop down to 9
percent over 15 years. Bacus
said some people thought it
would be impossible to nego-
tiate a large tariff reduction
on beef with Japan.
“Japan has been a very
closed market, a very pro-
tectionist market for a long
time,” he said. “This is a
huge, huge difference.”
Bacus said that if TPP
isn’t approved, U.S. produc-
ers will lose ground to Aus-
tralia, the prime competitor
for Japan’s business. Austra-
lia and Japan already have a
trade agreement that gives
Aussie beef a lower tariff.
“That would put Ameri-
can beef producers at a disad-
vantage for years to come,”
Bacus said.
Washington Cattlemen’s
Association Executive Vice
President Jack Field said he
expects U.S. producers will
have an advantage in meet-
ing environmental and labor
standards called for in the
agreement.
“It’s a fairly rigorous and
complex environment we
meet every day in the U.S.
and that’s not necessari-
ly true for everybody else
around the world,” he said.
Washington Association
of Wheat Growers Executive
Director Michelle Hennings
said the preliminary infor-
mation released by USDA
was encouraging. The agree-
ment calls for Japan to raise
quotas on the amount of U.S.
wheat it allows in.
“When it comes to Ja-
pan, it is our largest market,
especially for Washington
wheat. TPP allows us to stay
competitive,” she said in an
email.
Some tariffs would fall
immediately, while oth-
ers would remain in place
at some rate for years. Ja-
pan’s 17 percent tariff on
fresh apples would be cut by
one-quarter immediately, but
wouldn’t be totally eliminat-
ed for 11 years. Vietnam and
Malaysia’s tariffs on apples
also would be phased out.
The U.S. imposes a small
tax on inbound pears, but
does not have tarrifs on ap-
2015 Oregon Cattleman’s Association Convention
December 3rd, 4th, and 5th
The RiverHouse, Bend, Oregon
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS:
ples, pears and cherries. For
those fruits, U.S. growers
will only benefit from tariff
elimination, said Powers of
the horticultural council.
Also, other countries will
have to adopt U.S. standards
for phyosanitary require-
ments, he said. “This pro-
vides more discipline in hav-
ing those barriers brought
down or avoided,” he said.
Pear Bureau Northwest
President Kevin Moffit said
Oregon and Washington pear
growers export 36 percent of
their fresh fruit. The percent-
age must grow as farmers
increase yields faster than
domestic consumption goes
up, he said.
TPP countries Vietnam
and Malaysia are potential
markets, he said. Under TPP,
Vietnam would eliminate
a 10 percent tariff on pears
over three years.
Oregon Blueberry Com-
mission Administrator Byran
Ostlund said lower tariffs on
berries will help, especially
if the agreement paves the
way for the importation of
fresh blueberries into now-
closed countries such as
Vietnam and Philippines.
“Hopefully, that is the
case,” he said. “We need to
find new markets.”
The National Potato
Council encouraged Con-
gress to approve TPP. The
council said it expected the
agreement to draw non-
TPP countries into trade
talks, such as Indonesia, the
Philippines, South Korea,
Taiwan and Thailand. The
agreement also does not in-
clude China.
TPP will phase out tariffs
on french fries of 8.5 percent
in Japan over six years and
13 percent in Vietnam over
four years. Tariffs on other
potato products also will be
gradually eliminated.
Harris, of the Washington
Potato Commission, said dis-
pute-resolution provisions in
the TPP may prevent potato
shipments from being held
up at foreign ports.
“Overall, the agreement
looks favorable to potatoes,”
he said.
TPP signers are Australia,
Brunei Darussalam, Canada,
Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mex-
ico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin-
gapore and Vietnam.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for
cash to the highest bidder, on 11/
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10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
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Reputed owner(s)
SENVOY LLC
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legal-45-2-4/#4
THURSDAY
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LEGAL
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NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
The USDA Natural Resources
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announces a meeting of the
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Advisory
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on
November 24, 2015 from 9:30
am to 3:00 pm, 316 W. Boone
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Remote access is also available.
For more information
contact Sherre Copeland,
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