WASHINGTON, D.C. – The USDA recently announced efforts to bolster U.S. agricultural trade, including the agency’s planned trade missions for 2024, and the opening of a public comment period for its new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said these efforts will help to support further growth in U.S. agricultural exports, and introduce high-quality U.S. agricultural products to new markets.

“Market diversification is an important tool for maximizing growth opportunities for U.S. agriculture, as well as hedging the risk of market contraction, and general volatility in the global marketplace,” he said.

“The USDA is committed to promoting export opportunities in non-traditional markets, and ensuring that U.S. agricultural commodities and products are available to diverse consumer groups around the world.”

In a Dec. 7 joint statement to Farm World, the USDA Press Office said, “The idea for the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program came about due to the recognition of the need to provide U.S. agricultural producers with the additional support they need to strengthen U.S agriculture’s presence in existing markets, open up new market opportunities, and build on our relationships and connections to ensure that high-quality American agriculture and food products reach where they are needed in the world.”

The USDA said the program will provide cost-share assistance to eligible U.S. organizations for activities such as consumer advertising, public relations, point-of-sale demonstrations, participation in trade fairs and exhibits, market research, and technical assistance.

The program is available to all sectors of U.S. agriculture, including fish and forest product producers, mainly through partnerships with non-profit national and regional organizations. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service administers the program under authorities of the Commodity Credit Corp. Charter Act, which became effective Aug. 10, 2012.

According to the USDA Farm Service Agency, the act’s purpose is for “stabilizing, supporting, and protecting farm income and prices, of assisting in the maintenance of balanced and adequate supplies of agricultural commodities products (such as) foods, feeds, and fibers, and of facilitating the orderly distribution of agricultural commodities.”

In October, Vilsack announced the USDA will use $1.3 billion from the Commodity Credit Corp. funds to establish the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, to “bolster and diversify U.S. agricultural export opportunities, and strengthen support for specialty crop industries. This investment will enable American exporters to enter new markets, and expand market share in current and growth markets.”

The USDA said U.S. agricultural exports totaled a record $196 billion in 2022, following a record setting year in 2021. The agency added USDA export promotion programs support efforts to continue market expansion for U.S. food and agricultural products.

The agency said these programs are just one tool the USDA utilizes to ensure market access new opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers, including:

- Vietnam opening its market for U.S. grapefruit exporters;

- India dropping the retaliatory tariffs on apples, chickpeas, lentils, almonds and walnuts. The Indian government also reduced tariffs for turkey, duck, blueberries, and cranberries;

- Canada approving legislative recognition of U.S. biofuels, maintaining the largest and most dependable export market for U.S. ethanol and biodiesel;

- Mexico granting market access to U.S. potatoes, following more than 20 years of engagement;

- Japan renegotiating beef safeguard levels under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, reducing tariffs, and generating growth opportunities for $150 million in beef exports; and

- Brazil agreeing not to change import certification requirements, ensuring continued exports of U.S. milk, beef, and seafood to this important market.

The USDA said it plans to build on these successes and highlight export opportunities in additional markets through a robust agribusiness trade mission schedule next year.

The USDA will lead trade missions to the following markets in 2024:

- Seoul, South Korea – Week of March 25, 2024

- New Delhi, India – Week of April 22, 2024

- Vancouver, Canada – Week of June 17, 2024

- Bogota, Colombia – Week of July 29, 2024

- Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (with buyers from Thailand) – Week of Sept. 9, 2024

- Casablanca, Morocco (with buyers from Senegal and Francophone West Africa) – Week of Dec. 2, 2024

When asked how these countries were selected and planned for the 2024 trade missions, the USDA Press Office told Farm World, “The USDA utilizes trade data and the expertise of USDA staff around the world to identify markets that offer opportunities for U.S. exporters. The USDA works with all trade mission participants to provide them tailored experiences that make their international experiences valuable.”

The USDA Press Office added eligible organizations representing any U.S. agricultural commodity, except tobacco, are eligible to apply to participate in the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program.

“Participation in the USDA trade missions is also open to all U.S. agricultural commodities, although the (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service evaluates applications to ensure that the products being promoted make sense in the market. Given limited space, Foreign Agricultural Service typically focuses on participation by small- and medium-sized companies,” the USDA Press Office said.

“The public comment period on the recently published Regional Agricultural Promotion Program regulations will end Dec. 18, 2023,” the USDA Press Office added. “Foreign Agricultural Service will review the comments received, and may consider the comments when determining whether any changes to the regulations are warranted in the future.”

For more information about agribusiness trade missions and the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, visit www.fas.usda.gov.