Supporting Market Access to Reinvigorate Trade Act of 2022

Bill: 117-hr-9244
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-16]
Introduced: 2022-10-28
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2022-11-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-10-28
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Supporting Market Access to Reinvigorate Trade Act of 2022 or the</b> <b>SMART Act </b></p> <p>This bill increases through FY2029 funding to carry out the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program, which are programs administered by the Department of Agriculture to promote exports of U.S. agricultural products.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9244 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 28, 2022 Mr. Costa (for himself, Mr. Newhouse , Mrs. Axne , Mr. Mann , Ms. Schrier , Mrs. Hinson , and Mr. Panetta ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to increase the funds allocated to carry out the market access program and the foreign market development cooperator program of the Department of Agriculture.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Supporting Market Access to Reinvigorate Trade Act of 2022 or the SMART Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Between 1977 and 2019, the export promotion programs of the Department of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the Programs ) have added, on average, $9,600,000,000 per year to the value of United States agricultural exports, equal to a total of nearly $648,000,000,000, or 13.7 percent, in additional export revenue. (2) Between 1977 and 2019, the Programs have generated a net return of $24.50 for every dollar invested. (3) Between 2002 and 2019, the Programs have contributed up to 225,800 full- and part-time jobs across the United States economy. (4) Between 2002 and 2019, the Programs have added up to $45,000,000,000 in gross economic output and $22,300,000,000 in gross domestic product. (5) Communities across the United States that produce agricultural commodities as varied as apples, blueberries, strawberries, cotton, beef, soybeans, rice, wheat, dairy, corn, citrus, wine, pork, peanuts, cranberries, lentils, tree nuts, timber, poultry, potatoes, and seafood, have utilized the Programs to increase the foreign market access of such communities. (6) Private sector contributions have helped maintain the public-private partnership between the Department of Agriculture and private agricultural groups as the effective available funds from the Department have declined, with private contributions representing approximately 70 to 77 percent of the funds available for export promotion from 2013 to 2019. (7) Agricultural export promotion programs of foreign competitors have expanded at a far faster rate than the Programs, placing United States producers at a competitive disadvantage in international markets. (8) The economic impact of the Programs has eroded in recent years, as funding for the Market Access Program has remained static since 2006, and funding for the Foreign Market Development Program has remained static since 2002, while inflation has increased. (9) A recent academic analysis found that doubling public funding for the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program, coupled with increasing private contributions by 10 to 20 percent, would result in average annual gains in agricultural exports of approximately $7,400,000,000. 3. Increase in fund allocation to export promotion programs Section 203(f)(3) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 5623(f)(3) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (C) Additional funds For each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029, the Secretary shall allocate funds to carry out this section in accordance with the following: (i) Market access program For market access activities authorized under subsection (b), of the funds of, or an equal value of commodities owned by, the Commodity Credit Corporation, not less than $400,000,000 for each such fiscal year. (ii) Foreign market development cooperator program To carry out subsection (c), of the funds of, or an equal value of commodities owned by, the Commodity Credit Corporation, not less than $69,000,000 for each such fiscal year. .