WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today called for the Senate to approve the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement to expand trade opportunities for American agriculture and businesses.

Senator Roberts, a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee today said the following:

"In Kansas, as it is with the United States as a whole, international trade is very important to our state economy. In the past, trade agreements have been oversold and most definitely over criticized," Senator Roberts said. "However, Kansas farmers and ranchers know the key role international trade plays in their bottom line. In 2007, 35 percent of Kansas’s farm economy relied on agricultural exports. Kansas’s farm cash receipts totaled over $11 billion, and agricultural exports amounted to $3.8 billion.

"As a top wheat producer with almost half of all wheat produced exported, the importance of opening and expanding foreign markets is crucial to ensuring rural America’s survival. The Panama trade agreement provides immediate duty free access for wheat. We often talk about the problem of saving and preserving rural America. Trade is a key factor to help ensure survival and growth.

"However, it’s not just Kansas agriculture that benefits from this deal. Kansas manufacturers exported $4.7 billion in transportation equipment last year. $4.7 billion is a big number in Kansas, and the promise for growth is significant. It is also notable that approximately 80 percent of exporters are small and medium sized enterprises. Lowering barriers will help these small and medium sized businesses to weather this economic climate and even grow.

"The U.S.-Panama trade agreement levels the playing field for two-way trade. From the U.S. perspective, it is an open door to broader market opportunities for our exporters, considering that most of what Panama exports to the United States already receive duty free treatment under current preference programs.

"As the former Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I recognize the importance of expanding our relationship with Latin American allies in a region that has grown more hostile towards the United States. Panama is an important country in that respect, as well as strategically located as the connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Panama Canal is part of a major shipping route and provides access to goods bound or sent from U.S. ports.

"I share the sentiment of Senator Grassley that expanded trade can and should play a key role in our nation’s economic recovery. Further, we should also move forward on the other two pending trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea. We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while our trading partners become more engaged in the global market place."

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