Ag Groups Urge Congress to Reauthorize Crucial Trade Program

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), joined by 25 other agriculture groups, sent a letter this week to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways & Means Committee encouraging them to reauthorize a lapsed trade program, called the Generalized System of Preference. Reauthorizing GSP will help cultivate new foreign markets for growers while providing an economic boost for developing countries.

"American food and agriculture enterprises are continuously looking to diversify export opportunities, and the GSP program offers a starting point to broaden and deepen trading relationships with countries," the letter said. "Our nation's farmers and ranchers depend on an ongoing dialogue with our partners to compete on a global stage. With challenges emerging in key markets, exploring market access opportunities in new regions of the world will be imperative to keep American agriculture as a leader in global exports."

The GSP program, one of the oldest and largest trade programs in the U.S., expired at the end of 2020. NCGA and NPPC, along with other ag groups, have maintained that any additional delays in reauthorization threaten to undermine the decades of advancements achieved under the program and disrupt future market access opportunities.

The letter noted that the program is an important tool to encourage countries to eliminate unjustified trade barriers and follow international standards. For example, the corn industry is grappling with shuttered market access due to Brazil's ethanol tariff, and the GSP program can help motivate negotiations. But Congress needs to reauthorize it first.

"Participation in the GSP program should continue to be conditional on criteria that support U.S. market access into GSP beneficiary countries," the signatories said.

The letter comes as farmers across the country struggle with higher input costs and declining corn prices. The National Corn Growers Association and other ag groups have said expanding markets could help growers during difficult times and beyond.

"America's farmers and ranchers rely on foreign market access to thrive and grow their businesses," the letter noted. "Allowing signature trade programs to expire for years on end hurts the United States' credibility as a trusted trade partner."