IARN — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says there will be a rise in agricultural trade missions this year.
Speaking with farm broadcasters at the 2022 Commodity Classic in New Orleans, Vilsack talked about the importance of overseas trade missions.
“We have indicated a desire to expand on the number of agricultural trade missions that we are going to conduct in 2022,” said Vilsack. “There will be additional opportunities in the UK, London in June, the Philippines in July, Kenya in October into November, and then Spain in November and early December.”
Vilsack says it’s important for the United States to see broad-based growth in its international market portfolio, rather than depending on a few large export destinations.
“This is designed to emphasize the important role we see in expanding opportunity beyond our reliance on one or two key markets. We need to make sure we are active in a number of these emerging markets. North Africa and the Middle East are two in particular where I think we have some real opportunity. And then Southeast Asia, of course, we are already engaged with and need to expand our efforts there.”
Vilsack was asked if he’s concerned about expanding the number of trade missions as the USDA navigates without an undersecretary for trade.
“We had a record year in exports last year at $177 billion. We’re expected to break that record this year. When you ask a question about what’s going to happen, you need to understand there are a whole heck of a lot of people at USDA that are working very hard to make these trade missions successful. It doesn’t require a single person to make them successful.”
Vilsack made his comments during a press conference immediately following the Commodity Classic general session on Friday.
