May is World Trade Month and this is World Trade Week – a perfect opportunity to celebrate U.S. agriculture’s trade successes and highlight the importance of trade to the farm sector and to our nation as whole. After all, about 20 percent of all U.S. agricultural production is exported, providing a critical source of farm income, supporting more than a million jobs, and generating nearly $200 billion in additional economic activity each year in our rural communities and beyond.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, U.S. agricultural exports have grown significantly, posting the three highest years in history in 2021-2023. And USDA remains committed to tapping more, new and better global market opportunities for our producers and agribusinesses through our trade policy and market development work.
Some of that work is behind the scenes, like our efforts to knock down trade barriers – including India’s tariffs on U.S. poultry and berries, which were reduced in March – and to ensure that our trading partners live up to their agriculture-related commitments under trade pacts such as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
And some of the work is more forward-facing, like our trade missions and trade shows, which put U.S. producers and exporters in direct contact potential customers. Over the past three years, 13 USDA agribusiness trade missions helped 227 companies to tap new opportunities in key markets worldwide. There are still four more missions to come yet this year – to Canada, Colombia, Vietnam, and Morrocco. We also give U.S. producers and companies a chance to showcase their products to potential foreign buyers numerous USDA-endorsed international trade shows each year.