WASHINGTON, DC – Over the weekend, President Donald Trump made several trade announcements on the margin of his visits in Southeast Asia, marking key milestones for his reciprocal trade agenda. On Sunday, President Trump signed two
Agreements on Reciprocal Trade with Malaysia and Cambodia, respectively, lowering tariff barriers for U.S. rice. Trump also announced reaching frameworks for reciprocal agreements with Thailand and Vietnam.
The Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with Malaysia lowers duties on imports of U.S. rice from 40 to 15 percent while the Agreement with Cambodia eliminates duties on U.S. rice all together, paving the way for open market access for all types and forms of U.S. rice. While these two markets are often saturated with cheap, illegally subsidized, imported rice from neighboring countries, the market access achievements by the Trump Administration are considerable.
“It’s encouraging to see these achievements by the Trump Administration,” said Karah Janevicius, USA Rice director of international trade. “With rice being one of the most politically sensitive, and therefore protected, commodities around the world, our farmers and exporters are consistently competing on an unleveled playing field, oftentimes being outpriced from illegal subsidies and market manipulating policies. These market access achievements help level the playing field.”
The trade frameworks announced with
Vietnam and
Thailand include preferential market access commitments from both countries, while the U.S. maintains import tariff rates on goods from those countries, including rice, at 20 and 19 percent, respectively.
“While we don’t anticipate the market access in Malaysia and Cambodia to drive significant sales of U.S. rice, it’s always helpful to reduce tariff barriers,” said Janevicius. “We hope this signals the ability of the Administration to achieve the same duty-free market access in the United Kingdom for all types and forms of U.S. rice.”