Voigt: Potato Growers Need Progress On Trade Front

Like other commodities, trade remains top of mind for potato growers across the Northwest.  Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington state Potato Commission said a year into the trade war with China, local growers and processors are starting to see and feel the impact.  Making matters worse, the U.S. still does not have a trade deal with Japan, the largest destinations of U.S. spuds.

Voigt said while a bilateral deal with Japan would be beneficial, American producers would still struggle thanks to the U.S. pulling out of the TPP, which several competitors ratified.

“So now all of the sudden, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, these are all countries that grow potatoes and produce French fries, they are starting to take away market share in Japan away from the U.S., because they now have a free trade agreement and we don’t.  The same with the European Union.  The EU recently signed a free trade agreement with Japan, and the U.S. doesn’t, they are taking market share away from us.”

Completing the trade hat trick is uncertainty to the future of USMCA.  Voigt said the potato industry will not benefit from USMCA; he called it a push.  He said if the updated trade deal fails to be ratified, and the U.S. pulls out of NAFTA, then growers would be in a world of hurt.

"Now if we withdrawal from NAFTA, that’s a huge deal, and then all of the sudden, our product is going to be 20% higher than Canadian product going into Mexico, or a European product going in to Mexico.  So that will have a big impact.”

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