TRADE UPDATE

Food & Agriculture
August 6, 2024

By Kristy Goodfellow (Vice President of Trade and Industry Affairs), Isabella Montero (Communications Intern), Molly Shields (Government Relations Intern)

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • APEP: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip recently traveled to Quito, Ecuador, for bilateral discussions with the country and the first in-person APEP Trade Ministerial meetings. During the Trade Ministerial, APEP Members established new committees dedicated to labor and environment trade issues.
  • Mexico: Twenty-six farm and commodity groups called for additional investments in Mexico’s rail network in a letter to Tai, Surface Transportation Board Chair Robert Primus, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
  • USDA & USTR: On August 1, Vilsack and Tai publicly announced the appointment or reappointment of 55 members to serve on seven Agricultural Trade Advisory Committees.
  • Senate Hearing: The Senate Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion convened for a hearing on “Enabling Rural Businesses to Grow at Home While Competing Abroad.” Witnesses noted access to capital, weak infrastructure, and insufficient workforce availability as three large barriers for rural businesses.

“The increased demand for rail service coupled with insufficient investment in rail infrastructure has led to embargoes, congestion, and slowed servicing of U.S. agricultural products by Ferromex, a main rail carrier in Mexico … We urge you to speak with your colleagues in Mexico to encourage increased investment in the country’s rail network and to ensure U.S. agricultural products do not disproportionately bear the burden of rail service constraints.”

——Signatories of a letter to STB Chair Primus, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, and U.S. Trade Representative Tai on Mexico rail disruptions

AMERICAS

Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) Trade Ministerial Meeting

  • U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Chief Ag Negotiator Doug McKalip traveled to Quito, Ecuador, from July 30-Aug. 1 for the first in-person APEP Trade Ministerial meetings and bilateral meetings.
  • During the APEP Trade Ministerial, officials established new committees dedicated to labor and environmental trade issues. In a joint statement following the meeting, APEP members stated “We further recognize that internationally recognized labor rights, environmental sustainability, and economic inclusion are essential to achieving a more open, fair, and prosperous hemisphere.”
  • Ahead of the APEP meetings, Tai and McKalip met with Ecuador’s Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment, and Fisheries Sonsoles García and Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Franklin Danilo Palacios.  
  • According to USTR, the meeting included a discussion of the agriculture sector, including food security, sustainability, and market access opportunities to deepen the trade relationship. 
  • On August 1, Tai had a closed press meeting with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Azin.
From X/Twitter: @Produccion_Ecu

US-MEXICO

Letter on Mexican Rail Capacity Issues

  • Twenty-six farm and commodity groups called for additional investments in Mexico’s rail network in a letter sent May 31 to Surface Transportation Board Chair Robert Primus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Trade Representative Katherine Tai. 
  • In the letter, the groups urge U.S. representatives to encourage their Mexican colleagues to increase investment in the country’s rail network.
  • U.S.-Mexico trade continues to grow rapidly, but the letter’s signatories expressed concern over recent rail delays, writing, “The increased demand for rail service coupled with insufficient investment in rail infrastructure has led to embargoes, congestion, and slowed servicing of U.S. agricultural products by Ferromex, a main rail carrier in Mexico.”
  • The groups stressed the vital importance of U.S.-Mexico trade relations to the nation’s agriculture economy.
  • As noted in the letter, Mexico is the biggest export market for U.S. agriculture products, with more than $30 billion in agriculture products exported from the U.S. to Mexico in the past year; two-thirds of U.S. grain exports enter Mexico via railways.
Photo by House from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferromex_4036.JPG

USDA & USTR

New Agricultural Trade Advisors Named

  • On August 1, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai publicly announced the appointment or reappointment of 55 members to serve on seven agricultural trade advisory committees.
  • USDA notes, “The advisory committee system was created by Congress to ensure that U.S. agricultural stakeholders have input and insight into U.S. trade policy and negotiating objectives.”
  • The seven committees include the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC), comprised of representatives who advise USDA and USTR on general trade policy, and six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs), comprised of representatives who advise “from the perspective of their specific product sectors.”
  • CRA is represented on two committees: APAC – which CEO John Bode chairs, and the ATAC for Sweeteners and Sweeteners Products, which now includes Vice President for Trade and Industry Affairs Kristy Goodfellow.
  • This group of 55 advisors will serve until 2028.

SENATE HEARING

Enabling Rural Businesses to Grow at Home While Competing Abroad

  • On July 30, the Senate Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion convened for a hearing on “Enabling Rural Businesses to Grow at Home While Competing Abroad.” Subcommittee Chair Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Ranking Member Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) questioned three witnesses on small, rural businesses’ barriers to entry in the export market.
  • In Rosen’s opening remarks, she stated, “Access to international markets enables businesses to grow faster, create more jobs, pay higher wages.” Rosen went on to say that entering export markets “can provide a buffer for businesses during the fluctuations in the U.S. economy.”
  • In his opening remarks, Budd argued, “For America to succeed, we need rural America to succeed,” citing the importance of state agency investments and the need for fewer regulations and taxes.
  • In his testimony, Dillon Davidson from the Nevada Department of Agriculture noted the challenges rural exporters face, including transportation logistics, tariff and trade barriers, broadband connectivity, and the decline of rural land due to the growth of urban populations. Davidson also emphasized the value of state and federal trade promotion programs.
  • Hearing witnesses noted access to capital, weak infrastructure, and insufficient workforce availability as three large barriers for rural businesses entering the export industry. They emphasized the need for state agencies to provide funding and education for small businesses on export regulations and best economic practices.