Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service announced additional support for American farmers and producers through the America First Trade Promotion Program to help expand export markets for U.S. food and agricultural products.
Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts, starting in fiscal year 2027, USDA will have an additional $285 million annually in supplemental funding that it will use to support flagship FAS market development programs like the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program. The AFTPP funding awarded today is a precursor to the funding provided under the Working Families Tax Cuts, providing important investment for USDA’s market development programs and building for successes to come.
“USDA’s market development programs have a proven record of delivering for our farmers, ranchers and producers,” said Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke J. Lindberg. “Partnering with industry opens new doors for trade, strengthening our position in the global marketplace and advancing the Trump Administration’s priority of keeping American agriculture competitive, resilient and ready to meet growing global demand.”
One of USDA’s top priorities is creating new and better market opportunities for producers. This includes strengthening U.S. agriculture’s presence in existing markets and opening new market opportunities by ensuring that high-quality U.S. agricultural and food products reach all corners of the world. AFTPP provides the funding necessary to capitalize on the negotiated agreements with trading partners through increased market opportunities to sell the bountiful and exceptional U.S. agricultural products produced by our millions of hardworking American farmers, ranchers and producers.
FAS will provide funding to 55 nonprofit organizations and cooperatives through AFTPP. As part of the USDA market development program portfolio, AFTPP is designed to help exporters leverage these market opportunities and ensure continuity of relationships and trust. It is a complement to USDA’s other export promotion programs and will be an important resource to our key stakeholders before the Working Families Tax Cuts funding becomes available.
The list of awardees for the AFTPP can be found at https://www.fas.usda.gov/programs/america-first-trade-promotion-program/aftpp-fy-2026-funding-allocations.
Below are comments from U.S. Meat Export Federation and the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council after the USDA FAS announcement:
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued this statement:
USMEF greatly appreciates the Trump administration’s efforts to expand U.S. agricultural exports through reciprocal trade agreements and other critical negotiations. But resources are also needed to capitalize on these agreements, and investments under the America First Trade Promotion Program will make it possible to further diversify our red meat export destinations and grow U.S. market share across the world.
When global opportunities expand for U.S. red meat, this translates to higher returns for farmers and ranchers and the entire U.S. supply chain. USMEF looks forward to continued collaboration with FAS to ensure successful implementation of the AFTPP, which is an excellent addition to USDA’s lineup of foreign market development programs.
The U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council offered the following response to the announcement:
“The U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council thanks USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Undersecretary Luke Lindberg and their team at FAS for the generous allocation. We will use it to grow and defend market share in established and emerging markets around the world for U.S. corn, sorghum, barley and their co-products, including our market development expansion of grain exports in the form of renewable bioethanol. AFTPP will help us drive global exports of our products and expand our reach to overseas destinations that were previously restricted under other market development grants. This will allow the highest amount of flexibility in finding homes for the products our U.S. farmers and producers offer, ultimately contributing to national prosperity that leads to a safer, stronger and more prosperous future for American agriculture.”
