The major international trade legislation currently chugging its way through the U.S. Congress has garnered support from the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) – on the condition that all components of the regulatory package remain intact.
To secure the potential for free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and Trade Facilitation and Enforcement (TFE) further down the road, the association – whose members dominate the U.S. production of warm-water shrimp from Gulf and South Atlantic waters – has come out in favor of the reinstatement of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).
But that approval only goes so far. The association has made it known that if TPA is not passed together with the TFE measures, it will revoke its backing.
“ASPA supports TPA only if congress simultaneously passes Trade Facilitation and Enforcement legislation protecting domestic industries,” confirmed David Veal, ASPA’s Executive Director.
The trade talk is not limited to the top of Capital Hill, but exists dockside as well, impacting shrimp fishermen, docks and processing plants throughout the Gulf and South Atlantic – a fact that Congress should keep in mind, according to Ernie Anderson, President of the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama and owner of Graham Shrimp Company.
“We understand global commerce is a fact of life and want the U.S. to lead the world. But our government must first take care of its own and provide the necessary tools for industry to create market conditions where they otherwise do not exist due to unfair dumping and illegal government subsidies,” said Anderson.
TPA grants the U.S. executive branch with delegation power when it comes to congressional constitutional authority for trade, eventually leading to future trade agreements like TPP. By contrast, the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement legislation will have what ASPA recognizes as “an immediate and direct impact on the lives of working Americans.”
