Agriculture Secretary forms undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs post
Newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is already making his mark at the U.S. Department of Agriculture by putting trade front and center of his organization.
Last week, he announced that the USDA has created the new position of undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.
The position was originally proposed as part of the 2014 Farm Bill and is seen as critical to the Trump administration’s goal of improving the direction of the individual cabinet-level departments.
“Our people in American agriculture have shown they can grow it, and we’re here to sell it in markets all around the world,” Perdue said. “Our plan to establish an undersecretary for trade fits right in line with my goal to be American agriculture’s unapologetic advocate and chief salesman around the world.”
According to USDA, U.S. agricultural and food exports account for 20 percent of the value of domestic production, and every dollar of these exports creates another $1.27 in business activity. Additionally, every $1 billion in U.S. agricultural exports supports about 8,000 jobs across the entire American economy.
Purdue noted that USDA’s reorganization seeks to place agencies in a new, more logical order. Under the existing structure, the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), which deals with overseas markets, and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which handles domestic issues, were housed under one mission area, along with the Risk Management Agency (RMA).
“It makes much more sense to situate FAS under the new undersecretary for trade, where staff can sharpen their focus on foreign markets,” Perdue said.
Farm trade associations praised the Trump administration for taking action on creating the new position of trade undersecretary at USDA.
“To have USDA recognize the importance of farm trade by creating this position is very encouraging, and we appreciate the administration’s foresight in doing so,” said American Soybean Association President Ron Moore in a statement. “We know that President Trump has big ideas on trade, and it will be imperative to have high-level officials within the administration who understand the intricacies of global agriculture markets.”
“We look forward to working with the department to ensure the department reorganization will provide the fresh fruit and vegetable industry enhanced access and service in areas such as trade promotion,” said Robert Guenther, vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association.
Purdue said the administration is already searching for the right person to nominate for the position as USDA trade undersecretary.
“I want someone who wakes up every morning and asks, ‘where can I sell our products today and what are the barriers to trade that we can take down today?’” he said.
Nurturing trade at USDA
