“Our trade negotiators must demand of EU officials that barriers to U.S. agricultural products be addressed in any potential trade agreement,” four Senators said in a letter urging Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) to schedule a hearing with U.S. trade officials, according to a Reuters News report.
The senators, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and John Thune (R-SD), said they wanted a hearing because Congress has not passed legislation, known as Trade Promotion Authority, giving the administration specific guidelines for any talks with the European Union. The United States and the 27 nations of the European Union have been discussing for more than a year the possibility of launching free trade talks and are widely expected in coming weeks or months to make a decision to take that step.
“It is important we know where the discussions with the European Union stand, and what exactly has been discussed regarding barriers to agricultural products, so we can determine for ourselves whether the administration is adequately addressing this key trade priority,” the senators said.
The United States has been frustrated for years by what it considers the EU’s “non-scientific” approach to food safety. The European Union has blocked imports of U.S. genetically modified corn and soybeans; poultry treated with chlorine and beef with lactic acid to kill pathogens;and pork produced from hogs given ractopamine, which promotes lean meat growth. U.S. trade officials have said they are looking for progress from the European Union on agriculture barriers before talks begin. That is believed to be one of the main reasons that a high-level U.S.-EU working group report on the expected negotiations that was due in December still has not been released.
“I know there is a lot of interest in whether we will decide with our EU colleagues to launch trade negotiations,” said Andrea Mead, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Our work in that regard is ongoing. We want to take the time to get the substance right so that any agreement we might pursue would maximize job-supporting economic opportunities.”
