The office covers all bilateral, regional, and global trade negotiations and disputes relating to agricultural products; food safety issues; and food aid policy. We use diplomacy to open and keep open markets for U.S. agricultural products. We discuss barriers to agricultural trade directly with trading partners and support multilateral trade negotiations to reduce such barriers. U.S. farmers and ranchers produce some of the most competitive, high-quality farm products in the world. We ensure that they have level playing fields to fairly access foreign markets. Our efforts include:
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Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement is regional trade agreement currently being negotiated among the United States and ten other partners. The other TPP partners are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Our office contributes to the negotiation efforts in agricultural market access and the chapter on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
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Cocoa
Cocoa an important crop both to the U.S. economy and the estimated 70,000 jobs that it supports, as well as to the millions of families that operate smallholder farms in the developing world. Our office works with other government agencies, U.S. food companies, and industry groups to safeguard U.S. economic interests, while promoting sustainable economic development projects and ensuring that cocoa is produced responsibly and in accordance with fair labor practices that protect children and their families.
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Coffee
As one of the largest importers of coffee, the United States belongs to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), a multilateral group of both exporters and importers of coffee. Our office, in partnership with other U.S. government agencies, works with the ICO to help develop a forum in which ICO members and coffee experts can convene to discuss major issues which threaten the industry, such as helping small- and medium-sized coffee producers mitigate the risks of price volatility.
