To require the establishment of a joint task force to identify and eliminate barriers to agriculture exports of the United States.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Cassidy (for himself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Boozman, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill establishes an Agricultural Trade Enforcement Task Force to identify and eliminate foreign trade barriers that harm American agriculture exports. The task force will develop strategies for challenging trade violations through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other trade agreements, with a particular focus on addressing India's agricultural price support programs that Congress believes violate WTO rules.
Who Benefits and How
U.S. farmers, ranchers, and agricultural exporters benefit by gaining a dedicated federal task force focused on removing foreign trade barriers that make it harder for them to compete globally. The bill specifically targets India's rice, wheat, cotton, and pulse price support programs, which have allowed India to dominate global rice markets with a 40% share.
Agricultural trade advisory committees and industry stakeholders gain formal consultation roles in developing trade enforcement strategies.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Agriculture are required to establish and staff the task force within 30 days, submit quarterly reports to Congress, and provide briefings on confidential information. This creates new administrative and reporting obligations for these agencies.
Foreign governments with trade barriers (particularly India) face increased pressure to reform agricultural subsidy programs or face formal WTO dispute proceedings.
U.S. taxpayers bear the cost of establishing and operating the new task force, though no specific appropriation is mentioned.
Key Provisions
- Creates the Agricultural Trade Enforcement Task Force composed of employees from the Foreign Agricultural Service, USTR, and other federal agencies
- Requires the task force to identify trade barriers vulnerable to WTO dispute settlement and develop enforcement strategies
- Mandates quarterly reports to Congress on progress identifying and addressing trade barriers
- Requires a specific plan within 90 days for filing WTO consultations against India regarding agricultural price supports
- Directs the task force to identify "like-minded trading partners" who could join as co-complainants in WTO disputes
- Establishes Congress and the private sector as key consultation partners in developing trade enforcement strategy
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
This bill establishes an Agricultural Trade Enforcement Task Force to identify and eliminate barriers to U.S. agriculture exports, with a focus on addressing trade disputes through the World Trade Organization.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_secretary_of_agriculture"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_united_states_trade_representative"
- → United States Trade Representative
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A process through which trade disputes are resolved, often involving negotiations and potential arbitration.
Rulings made by panels established to resolve trade disputes under the World Trade Organization.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology