Trade Agreements Support U.S. Agriculture

The U.S. agricultural industry is a global leader in high-quality, affordable feed grains and their co-products including biofuels like ethanol and feed additives like distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS). The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) helps facilitate U.S. agricultural exports through relationship building, as well as research and infrastructure developments that grow demand and customer loyalty for U.S. products.

Finding a home for these products internationally is crucial to the economic livelihood of U.S. growers, and the numerous trade agreements (TAs) the U.S. participates in worldwide help deliver profits back stateside.

“More than 95 percent of the world’s population lives outside the U.S., and that number is expected to grow over the next several decades, so it’s incredibly important to engage those buyers and TAs make it easier to conduct the business that U.S. farmers count on,” said Andrew Brandt, USGC director of trade policy.

A TA is typically negotiated between two countries but can include groups of nations, like the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and sets a mutually beneficial standard of trade practices for the countries involved.

The U.S. is involved in TAs with 20 countries and U.S. grains in all forms (GIAF) exports to those nations account for more than half of the total U.S. GIAF exports each year.

“Simply put, TAs give an advantage to U.S. producers by removing logistical and financial barriers between them and potential international customers, allowing the benefits of U.S. feed grains to speak for themselves in the global marketplace,” Brandt said.

The Council is committed to international trade and offers a wide variety of educational tools for U.S. producers and overseas buyers to learn about the importance of trade. The Council’s website houses resources and statistics related to foreign trade, including its Value of Trade study that shows the financial benefit of agricultural exports to each state.

The Council also partners with the National Corn Growers Association to periodically host Trade Policy Academies across the country for producers to learn how international trade allows their goods to be shipped and sold around the world.

View the Council’s resources on trade policy here.