Logistics Companies Expect Business Gains From Pacific Trade Deal

Supply chain providers are gearing up for a surge in business they believe the historic agreement will bring to Pacific trade

The Wall Street Journal
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Oct. 5, 2015—As soon as the Trans-Pacific Partnership accord was announced on Monday, Brenda Barnes braced herself for phone calls from clients. The account manager with international trade services company Geo. S. Bush & Co. Inc. said that her agriculture-exporter clients already are getting to work on deals with buyers in the 11 countries that struck the deal with the U.S.

“This will open up discussions almost immediately for new contracts,” Barnes said.

From small freight brokers like Portland, Ore.-based Geo. S. Bush & Co. Inc. to global logistics giants like United Parcel Service Inc., supply chain providers are gearing up for a surge in business they believe the historic agreement will bring to Pacific trade.

The sweeping deal, taking in countries that make up 40 percent of the global economy and a quarter of global trade, would reduce tariffs on a large range of goods that move between the countries. The deal requires congressional approval and faces a big hurdle in Washington as the 2016 elections draw closer, wrapping lawmakers in high-key electoral politics.

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