WASHINGTON, DC – Late last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released its global competitiveness study, “Rice: Global Competitiveness and Impacts on Trade and the U.S. Industry.” This year-long
study is the collaboration between USA Rice and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and is an update from a 2015 version (see
USA Rice Daily, February 5, 2024 and
USA Rice Daily, May 14, 2015).
The Report is a Section 332 fact-finding investigation and examined the rice industry in the U.S. and in major producing and exporting countries, such as China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and others, and looked at the years 2018-2023.
Prices were volatile during this period for several reasons, including disruptions to rice availability on the global market, government intervention in major producing and consuming countries, and exchange rate fluctuations. Between 2018-2023, global events in-and-outside the rice sector, including India’s rice export restrictions, high shipping costs, war, the Covid-19 pandemic, and weather-related events, caused sharp changes in rice prices.
While the report recognizes the economic and cultural significance rice has as a primary staple food for more than half of the world’s population, it found that significant government intervention in the global rice industry continues to put U.S. rice producers at an unfair disadvantage.
In his
press release on Friday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith expressed that the “details of the USITC report are deeply concerning for the U.S. rice industry, which employs tens of thousands of Americans and generates billions in economic output each year. This analysis confirms that unfair subsidies and artificial trade barriers in foreign countries erode U.S. export opportunities and farm income.”
“We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Smith to call for this updated study to showcase the uncompetitive behavior of major rice producers,” said Bobby Hanks, a Louisiana rice miller and hair of the USA Rice International Trade Policy Committee. “The report comes at a time when the U.S. rice industry is suffering from ever increasing imports of illegally subsidized rice. The failure to hold countries like India and Thailand accountable to their international trade obligations has only aided them to become the major producers and exporters they are today – producing and exporting illegal and cheap rice that negatively impacts our industry’s ability to compete here at home and abroad. While the report highlights increased market access as an opportunity for U.S. rice competitiveness, policy action cannot stop there. I believe the results of this report will appropriately guide the Trump Administration to enforce its proposed reciprocal tariffs on countries such as India and Thailand and chart a new way forward that institutes meaningful change for our industry.”
USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann further called on the Administration to act: “We have long called for meaningful action to hold these bad actors, such as India, to account. We are hopeful that this clear evidence outlined throughout the study can be used to help inform the Administration’s actions around setting reciprocal tariffs that protect our domestic industry, inform future trade enforcement actions around rice at the WTO, and through other mechanisms to ensure an even playing field.”
USA Rice staff and members will be working closely with the ITC, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Congress in the coming weeks and months to determine how to best apply the findings to future U.S. trade actions. Additionally, the ITC will conduct a detailed briefing of the study with USA Rice members later this spring.