USA Rice Members Bring Trade and Economic Concerns to Washington

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, industry leaders representing rice grower, merchant, and milling sectors coalesced here to meet with an array of Washington’s trade experts and advocate for leveling the global playing field.  USA Rice members also highlighted the rice sector’s dire economic situation that’s unfolded because of the extreme swing in input costs and lack of corresponding market prices, outlined in a Texas A&M study released last week (see USA Rice Daily, May 18, 2022).  

The meeting focused on the state of the U.S. agriculture economy; the Biden Administration’s trade agenda; food aid during a time of war; advocacy for USDA trade promotion and market development programs; the growing issue of maximum residue levels; Taiwan’s geopolitical situation; and the geopolitical and rice tendering situation in Iraq.

In addition to the trade-focused presentations with the private sector and Administration officials, USA Rice also held several targeted meetings with legislators, including with Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and John Cornyn (R-TX), and Congressman Troy Carter (D-LA) to discuss the rice economic situation and the need for action by the U.S. Trade Representative against India’s trade distorting policies for rice.

“The entire rice industry is having a more challenging year than we’ve faced in recent memory, between the drought impacting California’s rice infrastructure and input costs that are through the roof, particularly fertilizer, we are experiencing a perfect storm,” said Bobby Hanks, rice miller and chair of both the USA Rice Board of Directors and the USA Rice International Trade Policy Committee.  “While all crops have been impacted by rising prices of inputs, they have also seen a significant rise in market prices, except for rice.”

Hanks went on to explain “the reason rice is an outlier — flat lining on commodity price charts — is because of the decades-long systemic refusal to follow the WTO’s rules by bad actors like India.  The industry does not want to be in a position where our viability is under threat and we require assistance, but it’s frustrating because we know this could have been prevented through intervention and accountability at the WTO.  Since the two issues are absolutely tied together we felt obligated to prioritize that message in our meetings in Washington last week.”