Revised China Tariff Quota Rules Could Have a Significant Impact on U.S. Wheat Exports
By Dalton Henry, USW Vice President of Policy While the trade policy headlines from the month of October have mostly been written about a possible “phase one” trade deal between the United States and China, much less has been said about the recently revised and published China Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) rules for importing wheat […]
Taiwan Mission Will Sign Letters of Intent for U.S. Wheat Purchases
By Dalton Henry, USW Vice President of Policy Representatives from the Taiwan Flour Millers Association (TFMA) are in Washington, D.C. this week to sign letters of intent for the purchase of wheat and other U.S. grown commodities over the next two years. The trip is part of a biennial Agricultural Trade Goodwill Mission that takes […]
Welcome Progress on Trans-Pacific Partnership
By submitting the draft “Statement of Administrative Action” (SAA) to the U.S. Congress on Aug. 12, 2016, the U.S. Trade Representative moved one step closer to the final consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The SAA describes actions necessary to implement the provisions of TPP and contains details about how U.S. law would need to […]
U.S. Wheat Associates and NAWG Joint Committees Meet in Fargo
By Dalton Henry, USW Vice President of Policy The two joint farmer committees of USW and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) met last week in Fargo, ND, for a policy update and to consider key issues facing the wheat industry. The joint committees were created more than a decade ago to enable and […]
Brazilian Flour Millers Discuss Trade Policy with USW, U.S. Officials
An old adage suggests that two of the biggest influences on a market are weather and governments. Though there is not much that USW can do about the weather, government policies are one key area where we can work with our customers to help achieve beneficial outcomes for both. A leading example of that cooperative […]
USW Discusses Changes in Global Wheat Trade
USW President Alan Tracy joined the International Grains Council (IGC) for their 25th annual conference June 14 to present an overview of changes in global wheat trade, trade distorting government policies and the United States’ shift to quality-based wheat markets. More than 200 attendees at the conference in London, United Kingdom, came from grain importing […]
Trade Negotiation Focus Turns to T-TIP
U.S. trade negotiators are now focusing more and more on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), a proposed free trade agreement between the United States and the EU. T-TIP negotiations started in 2013 and maintained a relatively slow pace until last fall when negotiators completed the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) now awaiting congressional ratification. […]
USW Staff and Stakeholders Attend Canadian Global Crops Symposium
Working with partners around the world on shared missions has been a core function of USW throughout its history. That principle applies whether those partners are wheat growers, customers or even international market competitors. An example of this collaboration was on display last week in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, at the third annual Canadian Global Crops symposium. […]
Wheat Industry Trade Priorities Included in USTR National Trade Estimate
Last week marked the annual release of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) to Congress by the Offices of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR). The NTE report is a 474-page- list of trade barriers facing U.S. companies and producers. It documents a range of trade barriers, including Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS), technical and market access restrictions. […]
Taking a Vote on TPP is Critical to Its Ultimate Success
Representatives from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating countries are set to sign the agreement in New Zealand next week. Though signing the pact is primarily ceremonial, it marks another step forward in the long process of putting the world’s largest free trade agreement into action. In the months since the final agreement announcement, the […]