Ag secretary plans trade mission to Chile, Peru

Excerpt from: American Shipper | By: Chris Gillis |January 19, 2016

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he will lead a trade mission of agricultural exporters to Chile and Peru on March 14-18, with the goal to expand business with those two South American markets.

“Thanks to existing free trade agreements, the United States enjoys strong trading relationships with both Chile and Peru,” Vilsack said in a statement Tuesday. “In addition, both nations are part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which if implemented will boost the Chilean and Peruvian economies and tighten integration with the U.S. economy, helping further expand demand for U.S. agricultural products.”

The United States entered into a trade agreement with Peru in 2009, significantly reducing agricultural tariffs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the agreement has resulted in a near tripling of U.S. food exports to Peru to $1.25 billion in fiscal year 2015.

In Chile, all U.S. products enjoy duty-free access as of 2015, as a result of the free trade agreement enacted between the two countries in 2004. Since then, U.S. exports to Chile have grown more than 500 percent, totaling $803 million in fiscal year 2015, USDA said