LETTER: TPP will kill Montana agriculture

Just two weeks ago, the U.S. trade representative signed a multi-national trade deal called the Trans Pacific Partnership. To be finalized, Congress has to ratify it.

As a rancher, I am not only concerned by the TPP, I am outraged by what it would mean to this country. I can’t help but see through the empty logic that our own industry is using to support this deal.

Since NAFTA was signed in 1994, the average annual U.S. agricultural trade deficit with Mexico and Canada has more than doubled to $800 million, and our cattle herd has shrunk significantly.

Since NAFTA we have seen imports of diseased Canadian cattle, have been forced to keep the borders open to their herd, and sacrifice the health of the entire American cattle herd and U.S. population.

Also, because of NAFTA we had to reverse country-of-origin labeling, an overwhelmingly popular law to label where meat sold in the U.S. is from.

The TPP is known as NAFTA on steroids. We are setting up the U.S. to face these challenges and lose our sovereign rights with nine more countries.

Some of my fellow ranchers are excited by the idea of access to more markets without tariffs, yet they don’t connect that the TPP doesn’t prevent currency manipulation. This simply means that countries are still able to effectively manipulate the price of your meat or wheat, at their own will.

Tell the Montana delegation, NO on TPP. —Steve Charter, Billings