TAIPEI, TAIWAN – This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg led a trade mission to promote export opportunities here, as USDA works to ensure that U.S. agricultural commodities and products are available to diverse consumer groups around the world.
USA Rice joined USDA on the ground to learn of the shifting market demographics and reinforce the strong partnership between USA Rice and Taiwan. The trade mission agenda included meetings between Under Secretary Lindberg and U.S. businesses, cooperators, and state departments of agriculture. USA Rice also met with active and potential importers to discuss export opportunities for U.S. rice.
During the trade mission, USA Rice participated in local retail visits to Carrefour, Costco, Uber Eats, and Coupang – a large e-commerce platform. USA Rice also met with both importers and processors to share the latest information on the U.S. rice industry and find opportunities for further collaboration.
“The USDA trade mission allowed USA Rice to engage with importers and learn more about the dynamic Taiwanese market,” said USA Rice COO Sarah Moran. “With an ever-increasing portion of the population eating out for all three meals in Taiwan, there is great opportunity for U.S. rice to be sourced as ingredients and promoted as a reliable and safe product.”
Taking advantage of being in Taipei, USA Rice also met with Taiwan’s Agricultural Food Agency (AFA) to provide an update on the 2025 crop for both U.S. Southern and California medium grain rice. USA Rice also raised recent and forthcoming import tolerance applications for critical crop protectant chemicals for the industry, recognizing the importance of AFA support of the applications during Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration official review process.
“It’s always a pleasure to be in Taiwan and connect with our friends there,” said Michael Rue, a California rice grower and chair of the USA Rice Asia Trade Policy, who made the trip. “We are happy to share updated market information on the 2025 crop reinforcing the United States as a stable supplier of medium grain rice to Taiwan. We look forward to participating in the final tenders this year.”