As the US moves toward its November, 2016 presidential election, much of the discussion has revolved around free trade agreements, most notably the North American Free Trade Agreement and the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Nick Giordano, the Vice President and Counsel, Global Government Affairs with the National Pork Producers Council, says the anti-free trade rhetoric is concerning.

Nick Giordano-National Pork Producers Council:

NPPC is a pro-trade organization simply because our producers benefit significantly from trade.
Today US pork producers export more pork to the 20 nations with which we have free agreements than to the rest of the world combined.

Simply put, trade works for the US pork producer but more than that trade works for American food and agriculture and trade works for the US economy.

About 45 to 46 per cent of all the goods exported from the United States go to FTA partner countries.
So, you've got to ask the question, what would happen to the US economy if we did not have these FTAs and the inescapable conclusion is that we would be exporting less and we would have lower employment.

Giordano says, despite reductions in employment in agriculture and in manufacturing over the decades, the US. produces more agricultural products and more manufactured goods than ever before and the US exports more agricultural products and more manufactured goods than ever before.

He says the reality is the reductions in the number of jobs in agriculture and in manufacturing are due to technological advances and increased productivity, not trade.