USA Rice Talks Trade Policy with UK Rice Association, Encourages Partnership on WTO Efforts

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Last Friday, USA Rice presented virtually on a range of trade policy issues to the UK Rice Association’s Board of Directors as part of a regularly scheduled meeting.

USA Rice Vice President of Policy & Government Affairs Peter Bachmann shared updates on the Biden Administration’s trade policy positions and discussed the greater emphasis on climate and sustainability goals built into trade talks than has been seen in the past.  Bachmann reiterated the importance of supporting voluntary, incentive-based conservation efforts, including the plethora of U.S. rice industry-set sustainability goals established in 2020.

The presentation also touched on the impact of high fertilizer prices and other input costs without a proportional rise in market prices for rice, leading to projected decreases in U.S. rice acreage in 2022.

“The main message I wanted to drive home was the effort our industry is leading to both reform the World Trade Organization’s agricultural provisions and also hold India accountable for their blatant World Trade Organization violations,” Bachmann said.  “USA Rice encourages the United Kingdom to support the global coalition, including the U.S., to hold India accountable for their massive input and rice subsidies, their public stocks that are making their way into export channels, and distortion of global rice prices.”

The UK remains a strong and important market for the U.S. rice industry.  According to last week’s Foreign Agricultural Service Export Sales Report, the U.S. has exported 22,600 metric tons of rice to the UK so far this marketing year, up from just 8,200 metric tons shipped at this time last year.  The years-long 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. rice by the UK is set to be lifted on June 1 and the next quota auction for the UK is scheduled for later this week, providing optimism for more sales this year.

Since no rice is grown in the UK, they are solely an importer and have 11 domestic rice mills that further process and then package rice for distribution throughout the country.  According to the UK Rice Association, 88 percent of UK households buy rice, and their industry is vibrant and continuously developing, with overall growth in per capita consumption.

USA Rice continues to encourage the Biden Administration to negotiate a U.S.-UK Free Trade Agreement that would expand market access opportunities for U.S. rice, including full duty-free access for all types and lengths.