I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 648 

To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to extend and expand the 

Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. COSTA, Mr. MANN, Ms. SCHRIER, Mrs. 

HINSON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. FINSTAD, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to extend 

and expand the Market Access Program and the Foreign 

Market Development Cooperator Program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agriculture Export 

5 Promotion Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) between 1977 and 2019, the export pro2 motion programs of the Department of Agri3 culture— 

4 (A) have added an average of 

5 $9,600,000,000 annually to the value of United 

6 States agricultural exports, equal to a total of 

7 nearly $648,000,000,000, or 13.7 percent, in 

8 additional export revenue; and 

9 (B) have generated a net return of $24.50 

10 for every dollar invested; 

11 (2) between 2002 and 2019, the export pro12 motion programs of the Department of Agri13 culture— 

14 (A) have contributed to the creation of up 

15 to 225,800 full- and part-time jobs across the 

16 United States economy; and 

17 (B) have added up to $45,000,000,000 in 

18 gross economic output and $22,300,000,000 in 

19 gross domestic product; 

20 (3) communities across the United States pro21 ducing agricultural commodities as varied as apples, 

22 cotton, beef, soybeans, rice, wheat, dairy, corn, cit23 rus, wine, pork, peanuts, cranberries, lentils, tree 

24 nuts, timber, poultry, potatoes, and seafood have uti25 lized the export promotion programs of the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H648.IH H648

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1 ment of Agriculture to increase access to foreign 

2 markets; 

3 (4) private sector contributions have helped 

4 maintain the public-private partnership between the 

5 Department of Agriculture and private agricultural 

6 groups as available funds from the Department of 

7 Agriculture have declined, with private contributions 

8 representing approximately 70 to 77 percent of the 

9 funds available for export promotion from 2013 to 

10 2019; 

11 (5) foreign competitors have expanded their ag12 ricultural export promotion programs at a far faster 

13 rate than the United States, placing United States 

14 producers at a competitive disadvantage in inter15 national markets; 

16 (6) the economic impact of the export pro17 motion programs of the Department of Agriculture 

18 has eroded in recent years, as funding for the Mar19 ket Access Program has remained static since 2006 

20 and funding for the Foreign Market Development 

21 Cooperator Program has remained static since 2002, 

22 while inflation has increased; and 

23 (7) a recent academic analysis found that dou24 bling public funding for the Market Access Program 

25 and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator 


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1 Program, coupled with increasing private contribu2 tions ranging from 10 to 20 percent, would result in 

3 average annual gains in agricultural exports of ap4 proximately $7,400,000,000. 

5 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL TRADE PROMOTION AND FACILITA6 TION. 

7 Section 203(f) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 

8 (7 U.S.C. 5623(f)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘2019 through 2023’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘2024 through 2029’’; and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘$255,000,000’’ and in13 serting ‘‘$489,500,000’’; and 

14 (2) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

15 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

16 striking ‘‘2019 through 2023’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘2024 through 2029’’; 

18 (B) in clause (i), by striking 

19 ‘‘$200,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$400,000,000’’; 

20 and 

21 (C) in clause (ii), by striking 

22 ‘‘$34,500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$69,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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