TRADE UPDATE

Food & Agriculture
Dec. 3, 2024

By Kristy Goodfellow, Vice President of Trade and Industry Affairs and Ameya Khanapurkar, Trade Intern

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Trump Transition:
    • President-elect Donald Trump selected Jamieson Greer as his pick to be the next United States Trade Representative (USTR).
    • Trump announced that he will institute 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada and 10% additional tariffs on China to curb illegal immigration and narcotics into the United States.
  • Biden Administration: President Joe Biden is in Angola to “restore and deepen our relationships around the world.”
  • World Trade Organization (WTO):
    • Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has secured a second term as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) following a Nov. 29 consensus vote of the WTO General Council.
    • Many agricultural issues were on the agendas for recent gatherings of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee, and Dispute Settlement Body. Notably, the United States presented its calculations of India’s rice and wheat subsidies, raised eight specific concerns at the SPS Committee, and heard complaints from the EU regarding U.S. duties on ripe olives from Spain.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): The FAO released its biennial report — The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets — which focused this edition on the linkages between food, trade, and nutrition.
  • Environment: A new report co-authored by staff at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), World Bank Group, and Michigan State University explores the ability of the current agrifood value chain (AVC) to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation by empowering farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices more widely.
  • USDA: USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service launched an agribusiness trade mission in Morocco on Dec. 2.

“I do not subscribe to the myth that more trade reduces the likelihood of conflict, and continuing the move toward managed trade with China on a sectorial basis will be the most pragmatic way of dealing with its harmful economic behavior. I believe that good fences make good neighbors, and trade enforcement is an important part of establishing those fences.”

———–Jamieson Greer, President-elect Donald Trump’s USTR pick for USTR, during April 2023 testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee.

Trump Transition

LinkedIn (Jamieson Greer)

TRUMP SELECTS GREER FOR USTR

  • President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Jamieson Greer as his pick to be the next United States Trade Representative.
  • Greer previously served as chief of staff to Trump’s former USTR, Robert Lighthizer, and is currently a partner in the international trade team at King & Spalding, a business law firm operating in 24 global offices.
  • Greer’s April 2023 testimony to the House Ways and Meetings Committee laid out his positions on China. Among other recommendations in his testimony, he specifically suggested:
    • Beginning the process of revoking Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China;
    • Assessing China’s compliance with the Phase One Agreement and utilizing the dispute settlement mechanism for some of the most significant issues;
    • Strengthening U.S. trade remedies laws; and
    • Seeking alternative market access through sectorial and bilateral agreements, focusing on the United Kingdom, Kenya, the Philippines, and India.

TRUMP TARIFFS

  • Trump recently announced on his Truth Social account that he plans to sign an executive order to institute a 25% tariff on all products entering the United States from Mexico or Canada. The effort, he said, is designed to force Mexico and Canada to curb illegal immigrants and narcotics from entering the U.S.
  • Trump also announced plans for a 10% tariff on Chinese products to combat his allegation that China is allowing illegal narcotics to be sent to the U.S. through Mexico.
  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Trump discussed trade policy in a Nov. 27 phone conversation.
    • Prior to the call, Sheinbaum responded to the tariff threat with a letter highlighting the importance of North America’s integrated market. She asserted that “A tariff will bring another in response, until we put our shared enterprises at risk.”
    • She argued “threats and tariffs” cannot combat “migration and drug consumption” in the United States.
  • Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to have dinner with Trump on Nov. 29. Trudeau had previously called Trump to discuss the tariff announcement and expressed willingness to work together to meet and respond to some of Trump’s concerns.

Biden Administration

TRAVEL TO ANGOLA

  • President Joe Biden is in Angola for a trip aiming to “restore and deepen our relationships around the world.”
  • Biden is expected to highlight U.S. support for the region through the Prosper Africa Initiative, which includes investments to increase access to nutritious food, strengthen agribusiness, and increase food storage capacity.
    • Biden will make a case for U.S. investments over Chinese investments. A Senior White House Official notes “that is the choice that is now available to countries throughout the region. Not looking at, ‘Do I have to accept Chinese investment with low standards and child labor and corruption,’ but ‘Do I have another offering to compare it to.’”

WTO

DIRECTOR-GENERAL

  • Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has secured a second term as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) following a Nov. 29 consensus vote of the WTO General Council.
  • Okonjo-Iweala ran unopposed.
  • The United States did not support Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination at GC during the first Trump Administration.

AGRICULTURE DISCUSSED IN SEVERAL WTO MEETINGS

  • Many agricultural trade issues were discussed during November meetings of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, and Dispute Settlement Body.
  • During the Nov. 25 Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) meeting, the DSB: 
    • Agreed to establish a panel to review Colombia’s compliance with an earlier panel ruling related to anti-dumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands;
    • Heard concerns from Indonesia regarding EU anti-dumping measures on imported fatty acids; and
    • Heard concerns from the EU regarding their request for authorization to retaliate against the United States over antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives from Spain, which has been referred to arbitration. Arbitration has not been possible because of the lack of Appellate Body members.
  • The WTO Committee on Agriculture discussed food security, technology transfer, and transparency during a Nov. 26-27 meeting.
    • During the meeting, the United States presented the counter-notification of India’s Market Price Support for rice and wheat during 2021/22 and 2022/23.
  • During the Nov. 13-15 WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, WTO members raised a record number of trade concerns.
    • The United States raised eight of the 64 concerns, including issues with India’s health certificates for milk, pork, fish, and related products, EU import tolerances for certain neonicotinoids and maximum residue limits (MRLs) for certain products, China’s delay in approving export establishment and HPAI import restrictions, and several others.
Source: WTO

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

NEW REPORT ON TRADE AND NUTRITION

  • The FAO released its biennial report — The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets — which focused this edition on the linkages between food, trade, and nutrition.
  • The report discusses trade’s significant contributions to food and nutrition diversity, availability, and affordability.
  • The report also warns trade can “be the accelerator of unwelcome changes in dietary patterns, boosting consumption of food with low nutritional value, and high in fats, sugar and/or salt.”
  • The report makes several suggestions for strengthening policy coherence between trade and nutrition, including building capacities among trade policymakers and nutrition officials.

Environment

AGRIFOOD VALUE CHAINS AND CLIMATE-SMART PRODUCTION

  • A new report, co-authored by staff at the International Food Policy Research Institute, World Bank Group, and Michigan State University, explores the ability of the current agrifood value chain (AVC) to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation by empowering farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices more widely.
  • “AVCs can drive farmers’ adoption of climate-smart practices through tools like resource provision contracts, technology transfer, and financial incentives,” says IFPRI’s Johan Swinnen.
  • The report highlights policy framework changes that would strengthen the role of AVCs, including de-risking private investments through public procurement and the redirection of agricultural subsidies toward sustainable initiatives.

USDA

MOROCCO TRADE MISSION

  • USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) began an agribusiness trade mission on Dec. 2 in Casablanca, Morocco.
  • Morocco is the second-largest export market for U.S. agriculture in Africa, importing $619 million in farm and food products last year.
  • U.S. agricultural exports to Morocco have doubled since the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade entered into force in 2006.
  • Morocco is expanding its food-processing sector, and its rising consumer demand is creating new potential for sales of consumer-oriented products.
  • U.S. exporters have opportunities in numerous sectors, including beef, dairy, feed grains, live animals and genetics, rice, seafood, seed potatoes, soybeans, and tree nuts.