Tobacco Growers Need Strong Export Market to Survive

Talk of global trade agreements happens far beyond the walls of the U.S. Capitol.

It's part of conversations, for example, in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, where farmers cultivate land that Johnny Barnes considers the "Napa Valley of tobacco."

Barnes talked with The Farm Journal recently about what he grows in Spring Hope, N.C., and how pending trade legislation could affect farmers' futures.

Barnes is a sweet potato and tobacco farmer. He said both crops have robust global markets, but tobacco virtually depends on exports.

“Domestic consumption is going down at least 5% a year,” Barnes told The Journal. "Last year was the first year that China surpassed the EU (and became) our number one export customer, so the growth for tobacco exports is Asia."

In fact, Barnes worries that without a strong export market for tobacco, it could be "the end of our industry."

The U.S. House of Representatives could vote as early as this week on legislation commonly known as fast-track trade promotion, which allows Congress up-or-down votes to approve trade packages but does not allow amendments.

The bill, already passed by the U.S. Senate, would simplify the negotiating process for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a huge trade accord between the United States and 11 countries bordering the Pacific Ocean.

TPP could improve the export market for tobacco by eliminating tariffs. In Vietnam, for example, the import duty rate on cigarettes is 135%. In Jordan, the tariff is 150%.

A second trade agreement—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP)—would affect Barnes's sweet potato crop.

He told The Journal that about half of North Carolina's sweet potatoes are exported, primarily to Europe, and trying to work with buyers in Europe is tough.

“We'll be much better off with a trade agreement,” he said. S