Gregg Doud, who was the chief agricultural negotiator at USTR during the Trump Administration, says the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a good deal for agriculture, but the U.S. did not leave the TPP because of the agriculture provisions. “In the TPP, you could have a vehicle imported from Vietnam that was 45 percent Vietnamese and 55 percent Chinese coming into the U.S. duty-free. That’s a colossal mistake and the impetus behind why that is,” explains Doud. “USDA Under Secretary Ted McKinney and I worked on of the most remarkable trade negotiations of all time, the bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Japan. That brought us 90 to 95 percent of the benefits we would have received in the TPP.” The TPP is now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. McKinney says Congress originally didn’t want to enter into the CPTPP. “Back at the time, both sides said this was dead on arrival. Now, is it time to look at it? I hope so, but there’s a lot to fix there.”
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