A new layer of uncertainty has emerged for the Northwest wheat industry. Since the U.S. pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, growers are worried about maintaining strong relationships with longtime foreign customers in countries such as Japan, which signed on to a revised version of the trade deal March 8 in Santiago, Chile, along with 10 other nations.
The vast majority of Oregon wheat — between 85 and 90 percent — is exported, with 21 percent of export sales to Japan. That amounts to $60 million, at current prices from Portland grain terminals.