The SMART Act proposes increases funding to two USDA programs
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A piece of bipartisan legislation, if passed, would help increase market access for U.S. farmers and the goods they produce.
Democratic Congressman Jim Costa introduced the Supporting Market Access to Reinvigorate Trade (SMART) Act on Nov. 3.
Republican Congresspeople Dan Newhouse, Tracey Mann and Ashley Hinson co-sponsored the bill.
The American Soybean Association and Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports are among the industry groups supporting the bill.
The piece of legislation calls for additional funding to two USDA programs.
The Market Access Program, for example, would have its funding increased to $400 million per year.
This program helps trade groups and small businesses “to share the costs of overseas marketing and promotion activities that help build commercial export markets for U.S. agricultural products and commodities.”
The other program the SMART Act would benefit is the Foreign Market Development Program.
The law would increase funding for this program to $69 million per year.
The Foreign Market Development Program “helps create, expand and maintain long-term export markets for U.S. agricultural products.”
These programs have benefitted the U.S. in multiple ways.
This includes generating a return of $24.50 for every dollar invested between 1977 and 2019.
The U.S. exported $150.1 billion of ag products in 2020 and $177 billion of ag goods in 2021.
Increasing support for these programs can help the U.S. ag sector export even more products to global partners.
“Throughout their history, these programs have offered a phenomenal return on investment for American taxpayers, and continued support for these programs will be critical for American agriculture to continue its global leadership as foreign competitors ramp up investment in export market development,” Rep. Hinson said in a statement.