White House Seeking to Boost Rural Exports
President Barack Obama recently unveiled a new strategy to boost U.S. farm exports by dedicating more federal resources to strengthening the agricultural sector across the country (here). The Obama administration will be bringing more foreign buyers and trade experts to rural American to discuss export opportunities, said a White House fact sheet. The strategy, which is part of a White House effort announced last year (see 14021015), will include outreach to American farmers and ranchers on customs filing and calculations for export shipping costs. The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration is creating a new export advisory team to increase U.S. exports, Commerce said in a statement (here). The administration's plans focus largely on export financing and infrastructure boosts, as well.
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Meanwhile, eight former Agriculture secretaries urged Trade Promotion Authority passage to boost export opportunities in a recent letter to Congress (here). The former officials called for more U.S. trade agreements that benefit producers and ranchers, but didn’t mention the Trans-Pacific Partnership or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The U.S. won’t be able to land the best pacts without TPA though, said the former officials, a common piece of insight into TPP and TTIP. “Trade helps farmers, their suppliers, distributors and customers,” said the letter. “Exports support rural economies and the U.S. economy as a whole through agricultural processing, ancillary services and a host of related businesses.”