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. […]
Air Force One Lands in Cuba
Before this week, Air Force One had never been to Cuba. As the call sign for planes used to transport the President of the United States, Air Force Ones have landed in over 100 countries, but not once in Cuba until this past Sunday. That day marked the start of the first trip by a sitting […]
U.S. Wheat Industry Encourages Discussion on Border Issues with Canada
By Elizabeth Westendorf, USW Policy Specialist Two weeks ago, government officials from Canada and the United States met for the biannual Consultative Committee on Agriculture — a committee designed to facilitate cross border trade flows and cooperation. In preparation for this meeting, USW sent a letter to the USDA highlighting the need for Canada to […]
USW Lays Down Policy Priorities for Year Ahead
By Ben Conner, USW Deputy Director of Policy A professor once told me this about achieving goals: “If you don’t write it down, it will never happen.” On behalf of the farmers we represent, USW takes a similar approach to our policy priorities: we write them down for the board to review every year. That […]
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 […]
WTO Takes a Few Steps Forward in Agricultural Trade Negotiations
While achieving progress in multilateral trade negotiations among World Trade Organization (WTO) members is often frustrating, USW sees some steps in the right direction in the recent agreement at the WTO Nairobi Ministerial meeting held in mid-December — despite some setbacks. USW is particularly pleased to see the elimination of export subsidies, which rank high […]
