The European Union is pushing for free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region. The National Pork Producers Council is urging the United States to do the same after backing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Nebraska Pork Producers Association President Russ Vering agrees and says it’s important to get some type of deal with those countries, especially Japan.

He says the U.S. has already established a strong market in the Asia-Pacific Region and it’s critical that trade negotiators get moving before the U.S. loses market share to the E.U. or any other competitor.

Vering says the U.S. has advantages over its competitors and needs to use those when pushing forward with bi-lateral deals.

Vering and NPPC officials hope the U.S. focuses on forging a deal with Japan first as it’s the top value market for the U.S. pork industry.