trade

In 2009 when Tim Montz first traveled to Shanghai, China, representing the Texas pecan industry, Montz had to explain what pecans were. Two years later, promoting pecans to China and other countries is “business as usual” for the father-and-son team of Tim and Jake Montz of the Montz Pecan Company.

If you can name it, there’s probably a competitive event for it. For instance, coffee has its own competition called the Cup of Excellence. In the coffee world, no honor is more sought after. It is given each year to only top coffees from participating coffee-producing countries.

Under the Obama Administration, USDA has continued to expand markets for American goods abroad, worked aggressively to break down barriers to trade, and assisted U.S. businesses with the resources needed to reach consumers around the world. And by organizing and executing agricultural trade missions, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is helping U.S. businesses reach the 95-percent of consumers who live outside the United States.

Hawaii Exports International (HEI) of Honolulu has successfully introduced its award-winning Kona and Ka’u coffees to the Canadian market with the support of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) office in Canada, the FAS-funded Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA), and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA).

USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, will present 25 breakout sessions, including the international trade-focused sessions: “Export Opportunities and Competition in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) Countries” and “Trends in Agricultural Development & Trade in the Americas.”

Thanks to Foreign Agricultural Service employees serving at USDA’s 98 international posts, American Thanksgiving traditions – and food – are being enjoyed around the world this November.

Last week, I was honored to travel to Bogotá and lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s trade mission with Panama and Colombia.

There are many things that Americans are known for, including dreaming big, working hard to turn those dreams into a reality, and reaching out to help others who are also trying to make their dreams come true. During his trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack—whose own personal story and history of public service epitomizes these very characteristics—challenged a packed auditorium of more than 600 students and faculty at the Hanoi University of Agriculture (HUA) to be the generation whose dreams transform their communities, their country and their world.

What started as a family-owned bread company in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1991 is today a thriving, artisan Italian cracker company that sells gourmet products around the world.

La Panzanella’s international success is, in part, thanks to their participation in USDA-endorsed international food and beverage trade shows, which is one way that USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) helps U.S. companies increase international sales.

Earlier today in Vietnam, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA’s market development programs are investing roughly $213 million in more than 70 U.S. agricultural organizations to help expand commercial export markets for their goods. Consumers in the Asia Pacific, said the Secretary, recognize the United States as a reliable supplier of the highest-quality food and agriculture products. And USDA’s international market development programs are playing a significant role in the surging demand for the American brand of agriculture around the world.