Source: National Pork Producers Council
Three days of talks among the 11 remaining countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership begin Monday in Australia, and Japan has proposed suspending concessions the United States secured from TPP member-nations when it was still in the deal. President Trump withdrew from the trade agreement when he took office in January.

The remaining TPP countries are exploring ways to implement the deal without the United States. The National Pork Producers Council, which was a strong supporter of the TPP, has warned that the U.S. pork industry will lose market share in the Asia-Pacific if the United States doesn’t conclude bilateral free trade agreements with countries in the region.

The NPPC is urging the Trump administration to begin trade talks with Japan — the U.S. pork industry’s No. 1 export market — and with countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines. Pork and other exports from the United States already will be at a competitive disadvantage once the European Union and Japan implement their recently concluded trade deal — likely sometime in 2019.

U.S. exporters will be further hurt if the remaining TPP nations implement a trade agreement. Pork from TPP members Canada and Mexico, for example, would have an advantage over U.S. pork exports in Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and other markets.