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McKalip Touts Record on Ag Trade from Biden Administration

(WASHINGTON D.C.)– Earlier this week, the Biden Administration announced that it has secured over $26.7 billion in agricultural market access around the world for America’s farmers and ranchers. According to the administration’s numbers, these wins helped deliver the fourth largest annual export values between 2021 and 2024, including a record-high of $196 billion in ag exports in 2022.

Chief Ag Negotiator Doug McKalip spoke about the trade wins on Tuesday’s episode of Agriculture of America (AOA) and touted the hard work of the administration.”If you look at the total, where we are, we are currently as a nation 28.5 percent higher on agricultural exports compared to the previous four years,” according to McKalip. “And that’s due to a lot of hard work between certainly U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, Ambassador Tai, partnership with USDA, with Secretary Vilsack, and a lot of our agricultural producers just working very hard to open up market access and to provide new opportunities out there for agriculture.”

Critics of the Biden administration’s trade policy have highlighted the lack of new free trade agreements during the last four years and a growing ag trade deficit that USDA said this summer could reach a record of $42.5 billion in 2025. When asked about some of the administration’s trade critics, McKalip said you have to be careful at how you look at ag trade as a whole.

“There’s no denying that the exports have gone up on agriculture,” says McKalip. “Certainly, you know, with a record low unemployment and the fast economic bounce back that the U.S. had in the last few years, that has resulted in consumers purchasing items from abroad, such as distilled spirits and tropical fruits, imported coffee, et cetera. Those numbers have certainly affected the balance. We do show there being some consumers that are buying some products that we don’t necessarily grow all year round, or in some cases the U.S. doesn’t grow them at all. So I think you have to be kind of careful when you talk ag trade, balance of what you’re really looking at there.”

BELOW: Listen to the full conversation with Chief Ag Negotiator Doug McKalip on this past Tuesday’s episode of AOA, starting at the 21:30 mark of the podcast:

McKalip says the administration and USTR will continue to “hit the grindstone” every day and work to achieve wins around the world through bilateral cooperation. He highlighted a fresh agreement with Chile as an example.

“In fact, just a week ago, we finalized a new agreement with the nation of Chile that will ensure that our cheeses and meat products continue to go into that marketplace,” according to McKalip. “And this was an essentially an amendment to the free trade agreement there, so it will be enforceable under the FDA. So I think again, this administration is showing that we can get wins all over the globe, get them through bilateral cooperation and get those wins in place in a timely fashion and so that farmers and ranchers are able to see the results for those wins.”

McKalip also touted the rollout of the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) in his comments saying “the US Department of Agriculture, the Biden Harris administration as a whole, set aside $1.2 billion for the Regional Agriculture Promotion Program. This is super important because it has allowed the work of trade missions and getting out there, opening new markets. Connecting with buyers. All of that work has happened as a result of RAPP. In addition to that, the administration put a special emphasis on specialty crop producers and additional focus there.”

Some examples the administration provided in its fact sheet include:

  • Lower tariffs in India for 10 agricultural commodities: apples, frozen duck, frozen  chicken, pecans, blueberries, cranberries, chickpeas, lentils, almonds, and walnuts; The ability to ship fresh potatoes to Mexico beyond a 26-kilometer zone along the U.S.- Mexico border after seeking access beyond the border zone since 2003; 
  • A new biofuel policy in Japan that allows the United States to compete for up to 100  percent of Japan’s on-road ethanol market; and 
  • A new agreement revising the beef safeguard mechanism under the U.S.-Japan Trade  Agreement, allowing U.S. beef exporters to more reliably meet Japan’s growing demand  for high-quality beef. 

You can find a link to the administration’s fact sheet here.

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