Secretary Ann Veneman

Last month, President George W. Bush and several members of the Cabinet traveled to Quebec City for the third Summit of the Americas. At the Summit, leaders from 34 democracies in the Western Hemisphere discussed efforts to conclude negotiations on a Free Trade Area of the Americas by January 2005, with a view toward beginning implementation by the end of that year.

    President Bush has made open markets in this hemisphere a top priority. And U.S. agriculture has much to gain from this effort. Everyone eats, and everyone has a stake in a trading system that allows U.S. agriculture to compete fairly for growth opportunities in the expanding world marketplace.

    Currently, about 20 percent of U.S. farm production is sold in foreign markets every year. That percentage rises to about one-third for our major field crops. In fact, over the past four years, the United States has exported nearly 16 times more wheat than we’ve imported, 19 times more feed grains, and 145 times more soybeans.

    So clearly our farmers and ranchers benefit from open markets. But they’re not the only people who benefit. Agriculture is one of America’s greatest economic engines. The business of agriculture--from producer to processor to retailer--generates about 16 percent of U.S. gross national product, and provides or supports roughly 17 percent of all American jobs. Clearly, agriculture is a pillar of the American economy and helps support our standard of living.

    That simply would not be the case without strong export activity. Last year, U.S. agricultural exports were valued at more than $51 billion, a figure no other nation can match. Dollar for dollar, we export more meat than steel, more corn than cosmetics, more wheat than coal, more bakery products than motorboats, and more fruits and vegetables than household appliances. Agriculture generally ranks among the top six U.S. industry groups in exports sales, accounting for about 7 percent of the nation’s total exports by value.

    Altogether, these exports generate billions of dollars in business activity throughout the U.S. economy and provide a paycheck for nearly a million U.S. workers in all 50 states--people employed in production, processing, transportation, and marketing. And last year, the United States enjoyed a $12.6 billion surplus in agricultural trade--one of the few sectors of our economy which, year in and year out, shows a net trade surplus.

    The picture is then already very good, but we can make it better. The key is to further open foreign markets. After all, 96 percent of the world’s population--and therefore, consumers--live outside the United States. Over the next decade, food consumption in the fast-growing, emerging markets of Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East will surge as a growing middle class, with rapidly rising disposable incomes, becomes more able to purchase more and better food. This expanding demand can sustain a strong and prosperous U.S. agriculture.

    Trade agreements, whether in this hemisphere or another, have led to real, measurable gains in U.S. exports and farm income.

    Opening markets and breaking down trade barriers is key to increasing U.S. agricultural sales and improving U.S. economic growth. That is why President Bush has vowed to pursue an aggressive trade agenda that includes the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas, and also extends far beyond our hemisphere, through the negotiation of other regional and bilateral agreements to open markets around the world. Success in these efforts is critical not only for America’s farmers, ranchers, food processors, and retailers, but ultimately for all Americans.