Ag News, Thursday July 23, 2015

New Pipeline Infrastructure Key to Clearing Rail Freight Backlog

In a study released Wednesday and commissioned by the American Farm Bureau, findings reveal that expanding America’s pipeline infrastructure would relieve the nation’s overburdened freight rail network. The study was commissioned after profit losses to Upper Midwestern farmers topped $570 million in 2014 alone due to lower prices caused be shipping delays. The study finds that expanding pipeline infrastructure for oil would lead to increased openings on freight trains. AFBF Chief Economist Bob Young said “construction of new pipelines would certainly be a more effective way to move that product to market.” The Farm Bureau study also featured mathematically simulated scenarios showing how expansion of any freight method – truck, rail, barge, or pipeline – can reduce overall congestion and, in certain scenarios, could increase the annual volume of grain moved by as much as 14 percent.

Work Continues on TPP with Nations Still Divided

Trade ministers from the 11 countries involved in the Tran-Pacific Partnership will meet in Hawaii next Tuesday. The meeting was scheduled in an attempt to finalize what would be the world’s largest regional trade agreement. But, an article published by the Pew Research Center suggest while the pact has general public support in most of the countries involved, there are also deep partisan divisions in some over the issue. Their research shows the strongest support for the agreement is found in Vietnam, where 89% of the public backs the potential agreement. The weakest support is in the U.S. and in Malaysia. The greatest outright opposition is in Canada, Australia and the U.S., and about one-in-ten Americans say they haven’t heard of the negotiations.

Canada Not Giving in on TPP talks

The Canadian government says it will not be bullied in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. The response comes as the United States ratchets up pressure on Canada’s heavily protected dairy sector ahead of what could be the final round of talks for the TPP deal. A Canadian publication, the Globe and Mail, reports more than 20 members of the U.S. Congress have written a letter to the Canadian government accusing it of being “unwilling to seriously engage in market access discussions regarding dairy” during Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. At issue is opening up Canada’s sheltered dairy industry to foreign competition. The Canadian International Trade Office says “we’ll negotiate at the negotiating table, and frankly, we won’t be bullied into negotiating this through the media.”

Source:  NAFB News