TRADE UPDATE

Food & Agriculture
May 14, 2024

By Kristy Goodfellow, Vice President of Trade and Industry Affairs, and Mary Lekatz-Wallace, Communications Intern

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Free Trade Agreements: On May 1, the EU-New Zealand trade agreement entered into force. The EU maintains tariff-rate quotas on certain dairy products, beef and sheep meat, ethanol, and sweet corn. A list of 163 Geographical Indications (GIs) was also included in the agreement.
  • US-Taiwan: USTR held public hearings last week on its ongoing supply chain resilience efforts. Representatives from the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) participated.
  • US-Philippines: On May 8, the United States and the Philippines held meetings of the agriculture and labor working groups under the bilateral TIFA.
  • US-Iraq: USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip co-chaired the U.S.-Iraq Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), along with Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Trade, Ghassan Farhan Hamid. According to USTR, the TIFA included discussions of agriculture, among other topics.
  • Transportation: On May 9, the Agricultural Transportation Work Group (ATWG) sent a letter to Canadian Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan, urging Canadian leadership to avert a rail strike proposed by the Teamsters Canada union as it negotiates labor agreements.
  • Food Security: On May 9, the World Food Prize Foundation announced the 2024 World Food Prize laureates — Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler. The laureates are being recognized for their “extraordinary leadership in preserving and protecting the world’s heritage of crop biodiversity and mobilizing this critical resource to defend against threats to global food security.”

“We’ll continue to collaborate with other countries and partners to bolster the global food system: advocating for shared safety standards so that more products can enter new markets and people around the world can access more food, reforming international financial institutions so that they can better address the challenges like food insecurity, building vital supply chain infrastructure, like roads, that can help bring products to market, from farms to kitchen tables.”

—Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the World Food Prize Laureate Ceremony

Free Trade Agreements

EU-New Zealand Trade Agreement

  • On May 1, the EU-New Zealand trade agreement entered into force. 
  • An EU press release on the agreement highlights the elimination of New Zealand tariffs on certain EU food and agricultural products, such as pork, wine and sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar confectionary, and biscuits.  
  • The EU maintains tariff-rate quotas on certain dairy products, beef and sheep meat, ethanol, and sweet corn. A list of 163 Geographical Indications was also included.
  • New Zealand highlighted key outcomes from the agreement, including eliminating EU tariffs on kiwifruit, apples, Mānuka honey, onions, wine, fish, mussels, and squid from entry into force. Tariffs were also eliminated on manufactured goods, textiles, apparel, and leather products.
  • The United States competes with New Zealand in certain exports to the EU, including in dairy products and some meats.
New Zealand annual exports to the EU of select dairy products

US-Taiwan

Initiative on 21st Century Trade

  • From April 29 through May 3, the United States and Taiwan held a negotiating round to discuss the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade.
  • According to USTR’s press release, the two sides “continued to exchange views on proposed texts, including in the areas of agriculture, labor and the environment.”
  • A first agreement was signed on June 1, 2023, and included chapters on customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, domestic services regulation, anti-corruption, and small and medium-sized businesses.
  • According to USDA’s Global Agricultural Trade System, the United States exported $3.7 billion in agricultural and related products to Taiwan in 2023, including $625 million in beef and beef products and $609 million worth of soybeans.
  • Additionally, according to USDA GATS, the United States imported from Taiwan $907 million in agricultural and related products in 2023, including $155 million in seafood products.

US-Philippines

Trade And Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA)

  • On May 8, the United States and the Philippines convened meetings of their agriculture and labor working groups under the bilateral TIFA.
  • According to the USTR press release, under the Agricultural Working Group, parties “discussed ways to further strengthen agricultural trade between the two countries as well as the importance of biotechnology and innovation in meeting food security and sustainability goals.”
  • A TIFA meeting is expected to take place in July 2024.
  • According to USDA GATS, the United States exported $3.6 billion in agriculture and related products to the Philippines in 2023, including $1.3 billion in soybean meal.
  • Moreover, according to USDA GATS, the United States imported $1.2 billion in agriculture and related products from the Philippines in 2023, including $372 million in vegetable oils and $213 million in fruit and vegetable juices.

US-Iraq

Trade And Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA)

  • USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip co-chaired the U.S.-Iraq TIFA, along with Ghassan Farhan Hamid, Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Trade.
  • According to  USTR, the TIFA included discussions of agriculture, customs, standards, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property, accessibility of trade-related measures, and policies impacting climate investment.
  • According to USDA GATS, the United States exported $359 million in agriculture and related products to Iraq in 2023, including $149 million in rice and $86 million in wheat. 
  • Additionally, according to USDA GATS, the United States imported $2 million in agriculture and related products from Iraq in 2023, including $1 million in non-alcoholic beverages, excluding juices.

Canada Rail

Potential Rail Workers’ Strike

  • On May 9, the Agricultural Transportation Work Group (ATWG) sent a letter to Canadian Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan, urging Canadian leadership to avert a rail strike organized by the Teamsters Canada union as they negotiate labor agreements.
  • The Teamsters union represents 9,000 workers from Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), both of which are major shippers of grain, potash, and coal across North America.
  • The strike could begin as soon as May 22. With this approaching deadline in mind, the ATWG urged Minister O’Regan and his Cabinet colleagues to designate rail as an essential service in response to the proposed strike.
  • The letter was signed by 20 ATWG members from across North America, including the Corn Refiners Association (CRA).

Food Security

World Food Prize

  • On May 9, the World Food Prize Foundation announced Drs. Geoffrey Hawtin and Cary Fowler as its 2024 World Food Prize laureates.
  • The 2024 laureates are being recognized for their “extraordinary leadership in preserving and protecting the world’s heritage of crop biodiversity and mobilizing this critical resource  to defend against threats to global food security.”
  • The laureates played key roles in establishing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which provides a backup gene bank collection for more than 1.25 million seed samples.
  • The World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, in conjunction with the Norman E. Borlaug International Global Dialogue, which will be held Oct. 29-31.
From World Food Prize Foundation on X.