NAFTA Holds Mexico’s Door Open to U.S. Wheat; Could Open Cross-Border Trade with Canada
Original article published on Oct. 12, 2017 by the American Farm Bureau Federation in collaboration with U.S. Wheat Associates. Before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into force on Jan. 1, 1994, state intervention and import tariffs held back U.S. wheat exports from the Mexican market. NAFTA ended both, and the newly opened […]
The International Treaties Upholding Science-Based Wheat Trade
By Elizabeth Westendorf, Assistant Director of Policy It’s no secret that the U.S. wheat industry and its customers rely heavily on international trade rules to keep markets open and wheat moving. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the prime example of this, particularly in its limits on tariffs and subsidies that have done so much […]
Cuba’s Recovery from Another Hurricane Should be Eased by an End to the U.S. Embargo
By Steve Mercer, USW Vice President of Communications The aftermath of Hurricane Irma is simply stunning. So many of our Caribbean neighbors are facing so much destruction, including in Cuba where the full fury of Irma raked the northern coastline as a Category 5 hurricane that killed at least 10 people and flooded central Havana. […]
The European Union’s Uneasy Relationship with Science
By Elizabeth Westendorf, USW Assistant Director of Policy Last week, the European Court of Justice ruled that EU member states cannot ban cultivation of genetically engineered crops without scientific evidence of risk to human health. The ruling was on a case that dates back to 2013, when an Italian farmer wanted to plant biotech corn. […]
Congressional Support for U.S. Agricultural Export Market Development Programs
Legislation that would amend the U.S. Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to extend and expand the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program, which are administered by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), has now been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding […]
Historic NAFTA Renegotiation Underway
By Ben Conner, USW Director of Policy On Aug. 16, 2017, the United States, Mexico and Canada began negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The first round concluded on Aug. 20. It was historic, in the sense that this is the first time the United States has attempted to renegotiate all […]
Renegotiating Bilateral FTA with Korea Risks Disrupting Effective Trade
By Ben Conner, USW Director of Policy It was a decade ago this month that the United States completed its last successful free trade agreement negotiation. Under the Bush Administration, the United States and South Korea signed the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) on June 30, 2007. However, it would be almost five more years […]
USTR Report Highlights Need for Rules-Based Trading System
By Ben Conner, USW Director of Policy Every year, the USW Wheat Letter features an article on the annual release of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). While the issues it quantifies do not change rapidly, the latest NTE shows the extent of the problems facing […]
Policy Organizations Call for Increased Investment in Agricultural Research
Excerpts reprinted from Agri-Pulse, April 5, 2017 USW shares strong support for more investment in agricultural research with our sister organization, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). NAWG notes that wheat relies on public, private and grower funding for crop innovation. Only 1.6 percent of the $142 billion U.S. federal investment in research is […]
Learning About Food Security and Development in Tanzania
By Elizabeth Westendorf, USW Policy Specialist U.S. wheat farmers are proud of their commodity’s role in U.S. foreign aid around the world, and the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Food Aid Working Group (FAWG) works diligently to support U.S. international food assistance programs. Food aid has always been an important focus of USW’s policy work, both […]
