“I applaud Presidents Obama and [Juan Manuel] Santos for their efforts to move this stalled free-trade agreement one step closer to realization,” said J. Patrick Boyle, American Meat Institute president and CEO. “It is our hope the Colombia Free-Trade Agreement, and those pending with South Korea and Panama, will now all move swiftly for consideration in Congress and are all approved, without delay.”
Last year, AMI worked closely with the National Pork Producers Council, Iowa State University, the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, US Meat Export Federation and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council to determine estimates on the impact of full implementation of these three free-trade agreements on US exports and job creation. Passing the pending Colombian, South Korean and Panamanian free-trade agreements would represent an additional $2.3 billion in meat and poultry exports and create 29,524 new jobs, claim results of the impact study.
