Export Council Urges Biden Admin to Pursue 'Robust' Ag Trade Agenda

The Biden administration should take several steps to boost U.S. agricultural exports, including by negotiating new free trade deals and better eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers, industry executives said during a President’s Export Council meeting this week. They also urged the administration to enforce existing trade agreements and more quickly make progress in reforming the World Trade Organization.

The recommendations were endorsed by more than 30 agricultural industry groups, which wrote in a Nov. 27 letter to the council that the proposals will help “bolster American agriculture’s global competitive standing around the world.”

The recommendations said the administration should establish a “robust agricultural trade agenda,” including by expanding domestic trade promotion programs, “recommitting to comprehensive trade agreements where possible” and “eliminating trade barriers to enhance the ability of American producers to gain export market access and maintain competitiveness.” They also ask the government to better diversify the U.S. agricultural supply chain and take steps to better lead on agricultural sustainability efforts.

Mark Ein, chairman of commercial security systems company Kastle Systems, said the U.S. this year has seen a 9% decline in the value of food and agricultural exports and a 19% decline in the volume of major bulk commodity exports. “The United States has lost market share for global agriculture exports over the last few years,” said Ein, who chairs the council.

In their letter, the trade groups said the trade barriers and “setbacks that we’ve experienced this year” not only “threaten our economic growth, but nutritional security around the world.”

Although Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during the meeting that “we totally agree with the recommendations,” he also pushed back on the notion that the administration isn't doing enough to support U.S. agricultural exporters. “On the one hand, you've heard some statistics that are a bit concerning,” he said. “On the other hand, it is important to point out that the last three years have been the best three years in agricultural exports in the history of the country.”

Beth Ford, Land O’Lakes CEO, responded: “I’m not sure that’s helpful in this discussion.” She noted that USDA forecasts a 2023 food and agricultural trade deficit of $17 billion. “This is a stark contrast to the United States' historical trade surplus in agricultural exports,” Ford said. But, she added, these proposals place “us in position to reclaim and retain our lead.”

Vilsack said the administration is taking steps to address the recommendations, including by developing new ways to diversify markets for American exporters. He pointed to USDA’s announcement this week of $300 million in funding under a new program designed to support projects that will help U.S. exporters “break into new markets and increase market share in growth markets.” The effort, called the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, will eventually allocate $1.2 billion over the next five years to nonprofit U.S. agricultural trade organizations, U.S. agricultural cooperatives, state agencies and others that “conduct approved market development activities.”

Vilsack said the $300 million funding from the first tranche can be used “anywhere but in the [U.S.’s] top four agricultural markets,” a condition he hopes leads to U.S. export growth in a broader range of markets. “The sad reality for American agriculture is that we've put too much emphasis on a handful of markets in terms of agricultural exports,” he said, adding that “roughly our top four or five markets basically are responsible for nearly 60% of our exports.”

He said the agency believes “it's important and necessary for us to figure out ways in which we can expand the number of market opportunities and increase our commitment to those that are not in the top four or five.” In 2022, the top U.S. agricultural export markets were China, Canada, Mexico, the EU and Japan. Vilsack said the funding will not exclude Japan “simply because we saw a significant decline in market share in Japan, so we want to make sure that we are stepping up our game in a place where we think there's opportunity.”

Vilsack also said “we totally agree with you that we need to have a robust trade agenda.” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has “done a tremendous job of understanding and helping us break down barriers,” he added. “We've seen barriers broken down for products in India, Senegal, Canada, Japan, Vietnam and Mexico just in the last year, and we're going to continue that effort.”

He also said he can “certainly appreciate the recommendations on the WTO” and is “very supportive” of reforming the organization’s dispute settlement body. “We understand the importance of enforcing existing trade agreements,” Vilsack said, specifically pointing to the USMCA and trade talks with individual nations. He said the U.S. is trying to convince Chile to “recognize the importance of the organic equivalency agreements on the organic side,” adding that USDA is planning a trade mission next year to the country along with Malaysia, Panama and Angola.

“So there is an effort,” Vilsack said, “and there will continue to be a robust effort in enforcing existing trade agreements.”