Trade Agreements in Question

On Jan. 23, 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Presidential Memorandum Regarding Withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Agreement. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would have encompassed 12 countries that represent about 40% of the world economy. Those countries imported nearly 10% of the almond crop for 2015–2016. With TPP, tariffs on almonds would have been eliminated in Japan and Vietnam, encouraging greater trade with the participating countries. The top three TPP countries that import almonds (in descending order) are Japan, Canada (which has a free trade agreement already in place with NAFTA) and Vietnam.

While the U.S. is pulling out of TPP, it will be critical to see what other trading partners do. China is expected to advance a competing free trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes 16 countries in the Southeast Asia region. The RCEP countries represent 24% of the world economy, and imported approximately 23% of the almond crop in 2015–2016. The three largest importers of almonds participating in RCEP are China, India and Japan. For more information about current U.S. Free Trade Agreements, please contact Beth Van Meter.