U.S. Dry Bean Council Sends Strong Message on Trade in Winter Meetings

February 20, 2017
Posted in: News
2017 kicked off with a flurry of activity as USDBC held its annual winter board meeting, several grower groups observed their annual regional Bean Day activities, and USDBC returned to Cancun, Mexico for a re-energized U.S. Bean Congress.  A common theme among all meetings was the importance of a robust trade agenda to continue to encourage a healthy export outlook in 2017.
As a result of a successful public/private partnership with the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the U.S. dry bean industry exports around 20% of its annual production.  As Mexico is the top export market for U.S. dry beans, participants and speakers at industry meetings taking place this month emphasized the critical importance of NAFTA and the negative implications of a possible border tax, as well as the potential market loss as a result of withdrawal from the TransPacific Partnership (TPP).
USDBC has sent and signed onto numerous letters to the Trump Administration and USDA Transition teams expressing concern with the current trade agenda while offering to work closely with the appropriate administration officials to avoid trade disruption and find solutions in line with the Trump administration’s own priorities.   While we remain concerned, we also feel confident that we will ultimately find workable solutions that will protect U.S. agricultural competitiveness in the global arena. We also encourage speedy confirmation of both the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative nominees, Sonny Perdue and Robert Lighthizer.  USDBC will continue to remain engaged in the trade dialogue and will provide regular updates on our website.

A highlight of USDBC Winter Meeting is the chance to visit with global reps (clockwise from left; Roman Kutnowski – Regional Rep Americas, Ellen Levinson – Americas and Worldwide markets, Jeff McNeill – Japan, Dee Richmond – Southeast Asia, Raul Caballero – Mexico, Violeta Picazzo – Mexico, Rebecca Bratter – USDBC Executive Director, Gabriela Meucci – Regional Rep Brazil, Randy Fairman – contractor – China, Dave McClellan – Mediterranean and Africa, not pictured Johanna Stobbs – EU and Turkey)