By Clover Chang, U.S. Grains Council Director in Taiwan

Recognizing its status as one of the United States’ most important corn export markets, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Darci Vetter traveled to Taiwan last month to participate in meetings with the U.S.-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council. While there, in a meeting organized by the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. Grains Council, along with a small group of other U.S. cooperators, had the opportunity to thank Vetter for her commitment to the international agriculture sector and, in particular, the goal of building U.S. exports.

Vetter played a key role in last winter’s extended federal budget stalemate, when she was a strong advocate for shifting funding available reserves to the Foreign Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD) to keep them operating while Congress and the president hammered out a budget compromise.

Cooperator organizations including the Council leverage MAP and FMD with private membership funds to extend the reach of U.S. export development programs. In the case of the Council, MAP and FMD contribute significantly to our programming in over 50 countries around the world, and even a temporary shutdown leading to office closures and the layoff of irreplaceable staff could have wreaked significant long term damage. The Council had previously thanked Vetter for her efforts during its February International Marketing Conference and Annual Membership Meeting, where she gave the keynote address.