M A R C H 2 0 1 9 8 POTATO GROWER Strong Push To Stabilize Trade In 2019 With the Farm Bill behind us and the government shutdown drama over, there is an increasing focus on the cost of the trade wars upon American agriculture including our industry. The ongoing back-and- forth regarding the multitude of actions taking place across the globe and the arcane agreements they impact, creates confusion. To cut through the noise, we wanted to talk specifics on the impact for our industry. In Japan and Vietnam, when the Administration elected to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, the U.S. lost tariff concessions that it negotiated. All the other nations involved in TPP moved forward in our absence and have already received tariff reduc- tions of 50%, with the additional benefits of duty-free access to be completed by 2021. Given these disadvantages, it is anticipated that the U.S. potato industry may lose $150 million annually in the Japanese market. Due to the ongoing trade battles in China, a retaliatory tariff has been placed on U.S. frozen fries and dehydrated potatoes. Since the Chinese tariffs against the U.S. went into effect, Canadian exports have increased 59% and EU exports are up 110% in part to fill the void left by reduced U.S. exports. Should the announced tariffs remain in place, the U.S. stands to lose over $40 mil- lion in exports to China over the next year. Mexico has placed a 20% tariff on U.S. frozen fries. This action invali- dates our previous duty-free access under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and could potentially mean a loss of over $80 million in sales annually. These losses would occur without taking into consideration the actions of competitors such as the EU who are seeking to establish themselves in Mexico. Since the tariffs against the U.S. were announced last year, EU exports to Mexico have increased 145%. NPC Mes sage by John Keeling, NPC Executive Vice President and CEO