How the U.S.’s TPP withdrawal will affect local potato growers

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership this week, and many people are wondering how local growers and farmers who export their products to Asia will be affected. The Washington and Oregon Potato Growers Convention today featured many speakers, including one D.C. insider who shed a little light on what it might mean for the potato industry moving forward. Reporter Rex Carlin attended the convention to hear the National Potato Council’s Executive Vice President and CEO John Keeling tell the crowd today that the affect of dropping the TPP will be felt in the future, rather than the present. Because Congress never actually passed the TPP, it hadn’t gone into effect yet. But he added that there were aspects of the partnership that would have helped the potato industry, specifically when exporting to countries like Vietnam and Japan, where he says fast food chains like McDonald’s and KFC are constantly growing which increases demand for potatoes. More