TRADE UPDATE

Food & Agriculture

May 28, 2024

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Americas:
    • On May 22, USTR Katherine Tai and her Mexican and Canadian counterparts met in Phoenix, Arizona, for the fourth meeting of the USMCA Free Trade Commission (FTC), during which Tai, in a US-Canada bilateral, expressed “longstanding dissatisfaction with Canada’s dairy tariff rate quota allocation measures.”
    • The first Americas Partnership Food Security Conference took place May 20–21 in Quito, Ecuador, and focused on global food security and the bioeconomy.
  • US-Kenya: On May 22, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report on the U.S.-Kenya Trade Negotiations, noting that “Kenya is a relatively small trading partner for the United States (94th largest in 2023), but that the United States is a major trading partner for Kenya (4th largest).”
  • White House: In a May 17 proclamation, the White House declared May 19-May 25 “World Trade Week.” USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) took this opportunity to celebrate “U.S. agriculture’s trade successes.”
  • Trade Promotion:
  • Trade Remedies: On May 20, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) gave notice of its positive injury determination related to imports of the common herbicide 2,4-D from China and India, and announced the anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation will enter its final phase.
  • US-Indo Pacific: The sixth Indo-Pacific Business Forum (IPBF), cohosted by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Government of the Philippines, took place in Manila May 20-21. During the event, two White House engagements were launched: the Luzon Economic Corridor Steering Committee and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Network.

“This week, we recommit to ensuring that global trade reflects America’s highest values: fairness, transparency, innovation, dignity, and opportunity for American workers, American businesses, and American families.”

—President Joe Biden during a May 17 White House press briefing

Americas

USMCA Free Trade Commission Meets in Phoenix

  • On May 22, USTR Katherine Tai and her Mexican and Canadian counterparts met in Phoenix, Arizona for the fourth meeting of the USMCA Free Trade Commission (FTC).
  • Regarding the USMCA 6-year review, Tai stated “the priority is making sure that more people — especially workers, their communities, and those that have been historically left behind by trade — can benefit from the Agreement.” In a trilateral joint statement, the three Ministers commented that “this meeting marks year four on the path to the six-year joint review of the Agreement and underscored the importance of making progress toward full implementation of the Agreement over the next two years.”
  • The joint statement also mentioned a readout from the Working Group for Cooperation on Agricultural Biotechnology, Technical Barriers to Trade, and Good Regulatory Practices, among others. Tai did not mention anything related to food and agriculture trade in her public remarks.
  • Tai emphasized during the FTC the challenges to supply chains and competitiveness from non-market economies.
  • On the margins of the FTC, Tai met bilaterally with Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade, and Economic Development, Mary Ng, where Tai expressed “longstanding dissatisfaction with Canada’s dairy tariff rate quota allocation measures.”
  • On the margins of the FTC, Tai met bilaterally with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro. No food and agriculture issues were specifically referenced in the USTR readout.

Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP)

  • The first American Partnership Sustainable Food Security Conference took place May 20–21 in Quito, Ecuador, and focused on global food security and the bioeconomy.
  • According to a  State Department announcement, the aim of the conference was to establish a regional agenda and concrete projects to help American Partnership of Economic Prosperity (APEP) partners achieve their goals of sustainable food production.
  • Attendees from countries in the Americas Partnership Sustainable Food Production workstream — which is included in the APEP — discussed how new technologies, climate-smart tools, and bioeconomic approaches can advance efforts to ensure the sufficient supply of sustainably produced food.
  • Ambassador Lisa Kubiske, the U.S. Senior Official for Foreign Affairs for the APEP, and Dr. Johnathan McFadden, research economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, represented the United States at the conference.
  • Following the conference, Ambassador Kubiske traveled to Costa Rica from May 21–22 to discuss with the Costa Rican government how the Americas Partnership can advance digital workforce development in Costa Rica.

White House

World Trade Week

  • In a May 17 proclamation, the White House declared May 19-May 25 “World Trade Week” and called on all Americans “to observe this week and to celebrate with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”
  • The White House proclamation highlighted the creation and work of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), along with increased tariffs on China. The administration also hailed work with partners to “combat non-market policies and practices and structural overcapacity that distort global markets,” clean manufacturing initiatives with the EU, and other topics.
  • USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service took this opportunity to celebrate “U.S. agriculture’s trade successes.

US-Kenya

Congressional Research Service Report on Trade Negotiations

  • On May 22, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report on the U.S.-Kenya Trade Negotiations. 
  • The report notes that “Kenya is a relatively small trading partner for the United States (94th largest in 2023), but that the United States is a major trading partner for Kenya (4th largest).”
  • The report also notes that some U.S. and Kenyan businesses support the inclusion of tariffs, although tariffs are not currently under negotiation. The report states, “the U.S. agriculture industry asserts that Kenyan tariffs on agricultural products will continue to hinder U.S. market access even if NTB [nontariff barrier] concerns are addressed.”
  • According to USDA Global Trade Atlas, the United States exported $53.6 million in agricultural and related products to Kenya in 2023, of which $17.9 million was wheat and $10.8 million was vegetable oil. 
  • The Trade Atlas also notes that the United States imported $145.9 million in agricultural and related products from Kenya, including $74.8 million in coffee and $21.3 million in tree nuts.

Trade Promotion

Regional Agricultural Promotion Program and Vietnam’s Potential

  • On May 21, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $300 million in allocations of the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP).
  • Vilsack announced the new RAPP program in October 2023 to “help U.S. exporters expand their customer base beyond traditional and established markets” and authorized $1.2 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funding for the effort.
  • Sixty-six U.S. organizations were awarded allocations. 

USDA Trade Mission to Vietnam

  • On May 20, USDA began accepting applications for its trade mission to Vietnam, scheduled for Sept. 9-13, 2024.
  • In a press release, FAS noted  U.S exports of agricultural products to Vietnam were $3.1 billion in 2023, and highlighted U.S. exports of cotton, dairy, distillers’ grains, fresh fruit, poultry, soybeans, and tree nuts.
  • Applications for the mission are due Tuesday, June 4.

Trade Remedies

Herbicide Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty Investigation Enters Final Phase

  •  On May 20, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) gave notice of its positive injury determination related to imports of Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) from China and India and announced the anti-dumping and countervailing investigation will enter its final phase.
  • The investigation was first requested by Corteva Agriscience on March 14. In its petition, Corteva asserted that it is the only domestic producer of a domestic like product of 2,4-D.
  • Corteva alleged that 2,4 – D is sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV), and that imports of the subject merchandise from China and India are subsidized by the governments of China and India.
  • The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) voiced its disappointment with ITC’s decision to move to the final phase of investigation: “We are disappointed that ITC did not listen to the feedback from farmers about how harmful these tariffs could be to rural America,” said NCGA President Harold Wolle. “Corn prices are already low and input costs have been rising. This decision will only compound our problems.”
  • On April 18, five commodity groups sent a letter to ITC Chairman David Johanson, encouraging him to vote against a positive injury determination at the preliminary state of this investigation.

US-Indo Pacific

USTR And Commerce in Manila to Launch Agribusiness-Focused IPEF Steering Committee

  • The sixth Indo-Pacific Business Forum (IPBF), cohosted by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, took place in Manila May 20-21. 
  • During the event, two White House engagements were launched: the Luzon Economic Corridor Steering Committee and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Network. 
  • Sarah Ellerman, Assistant USTR for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and Sarah Yuan, Counselor and Chief Negotiator for IPEF, attended to introduce the Network to the IPEF SME stakeholders.
  • With the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in attendance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in recorded remarks, touted IPEF’s collaboration with the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) to establish the Luzon Economic Corridor, a U.S.-Japan-Philippines infrastructure and investment initiative to connect “high-impact economic areas, including hubs for agribusiness.”