The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will sponsor seven trade missions in 2019 to expand export opportunities for US agriculture across the globe
Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney announced that the trade missions would take place in Taiwan, Canada, Colombia, Vietnam, Kenya, Mexico and the UK.
“Agricultural trade missions offer phenomenal opportunities for US exporters to explore new markets and forge relationships with potential customers,” McKinney said. “The marketing and trade experts from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service carefully select markets – both developing and established – that offer the best prospects for sales of US farm and food products. We’ve got seven such markets, on five continents, lined up for 2019.
“During and after the numerous USDA trade missions I’ve led, the feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive,' he continued. 'But most importantly, the results speak for themselves. In 2018, six USDA missions enabled more than 200 US companies and organisations to engage in 3,000 one-on-one meetings with foreign buyers, generating more than US$140m in projected 12-month sales.
While final dates are subject to confirmation, planned USDA trade missions for 2019 are:
- Taiwan (Taipei), 11-14 March
- Canada (Montreal and Toronto), 2-5 April
- Colombia (Bogota), 3-6 June 3-6 (to include buyers from Panama)
- Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), 14-17 October (to include buyers from Myanmar and Thailand)
- Kenya (Nairobi), 28-31 October (to include buyers from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda)
- Mexico (Mexico City), 5-8 November
- United Kingdom (London), to be confirmed
