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On behalf of our nation’s farmers and producers, we write urging the Administration to quickly nominate a qualified individual to the positions of Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and a new Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). It is imperative for our agricultural competitiveness for these positions to be promptly filled. These nominations are essential to our agriculture industry which is forecasted to export a record $183.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2022.
The United States consistently ranks as one of the world’s top producers of various agricultural commodities, such as corn, wheat, milk, and soybeans. To maintain its standing as a global leader, we must prioritize nominating individuals who represent U.S. agriculture at the international level. We were glad to hear the Administration is “focused on creating new opportunities for American agriculture,” but have doubts considering its failure to fill these essential agriculture positions. We were happy to see the USDA is actively conducting trade missions, like its recent trip to the United Arab Emirates, but we fear that our farmers and producers are not being fully represented without a nominated Under Secretary. Our concerns grew last week, after four new trade missions were announced without any recognition of the need to fill these positions.
The Under Secretary is delegated the responsibility to advance U.S. agricultural interests through trade and foreign policy in coordination with other Federal agencies, such as the USTR. A successful Under Secretary is crucial to American trade and the United States’ access to new markets.
As you are well aware, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has greatly impacted global agriculture markets. Ukraine is an abundant producer of agricultural commodities and maintains a critical port for trade. We expect these disruptions will continue to impact markets, as well as create food security challenges in many parts of the world. It is critical that you nominate an Under Secretary to analyze market conditions and administer USDA’s global food security programs.
A successful Chief Agriculture Negotiator will ensure that America is a leader during all international agriculture discussions. Having a Chief Agriculture Negotiator who will champion America’s many farmers and ranchers by providing them a voice in all trade conversations is a simple ask for those who feed their country. We encourage you to act quickly to nominate a Chief Agriculture Negotiator.
After 15 months in office, we remain frustrated that the Biden administration has yet to prioritize these positions. Our farmers and producers are hard at work to grow an abundant crop for the benefit of many. We urge you to promptly nominate individuals to represent them. We look forward to receiving an update with your plans to nominate individuals to these positions. We ask for a response by no later than May 1st, 2022.
Sincerely,
Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Rick Allen (R-GA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jim Baird (R-IN), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Mike Bost (R-IL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Ben Cline (R-VA), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Bob Gibbs (R-OH), Sam Graves (R-MO), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Yvette Herrell (R-NM), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Trent Kelly (R-MS), David Kustoff (R-TN), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Mary Miller (R-IL), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), John Rose (R-TN), David Rouzer (R-NC), Austin Scott (R-GA), Jason Smith (R-MO), David Valadao (R-CA), Ann Wagner (R-MO), and Bruce Westerman (R-AR).
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