A group of House Republicans appealed to President-elect Donald Trump on Friday to negotiate trade agreements with market access provisions during his second term to open new markets for U.S. cotton farmers.
The lawmakers – all from cotton-producing districts – noted that more than 80% of U.S. cotton is exported, leaving farmers sensitive to shifts in market share and trade shocks.
“Exports are essential to the success of the industry, and it is critical that the U.S. maintains its global competitiveness and seeks new ways to increase demand for American cotton,” 16 lawmakers led by Ways and Means Committee member Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Trump and the transition team.
Agriculture Committee members Frank Lucas, R-Okla., Austin Scott, R-Ga., and Barry Moore of Alabama are also among the signatories.
“Accordingly, we strongly urge your incoming administration to negotiate trade agreements that tangibly expand market access for these farmers and supplemental segments like cotton gins, warehouses, merchants, cooperatives, oil mills, and manufacturers,” the lawmakers wrote.
Brazil surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest cotton exporter in the 2023/2024 marketing year, stripping the U.S. of a title it had held since the early 1990s, according to Agriculture Department data. In the intervening decades, U.S. cotton usage has fallen more than five-fold, and a growing share of the U.S. supply has been exported to overseas markets.
The Republican lawmakers singled out India’s 11% tariff on imported cotton, as well as non-tariff barriers in the European Union, Mexico and Vietnam, as particular obstacles to U.S. cotton exports.
“Negotiating the removal of foreign trade barriers would expand export opportunities for the cotton industry, helping American exporters regain their global market dominance and adding a much-needed boost to the industry following the challenges of the last few years,” the lawmakers said.
The U.S. cotton industry faces a highly competitive global environment. Global production of manmade fibers like polyester has been rising in recent years. In addition to Brazil’s growing cotton supply, Australia has seen bumper production years since the pandemic – almost all of which is destined for export, according to USDA.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has eschewed traditional free trade agreement negotiations, preferring to address non-tariff barriers through broad economic frameworks like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity.
The group of House Republicans are not the only ones on Capitol Hill eying Trump’s return to office as an opportunity to resume free trade agreement negotiations. Multiple Republican senators on the Finance Committee, including Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, have raised the issue of foreign market access for U.S. farmers in meetings with Trump’s pick for U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Agri-Pulse on Monday that he and Greer had discussed market access negotiations during his meeting with the nominee last week.
Greer, Lankford said, “knows his stuff” and “is passionate about trying to get our trade going again.”
“I just want to get trade agreements going again. The Biden administration has refused to do it,” Lankford added.
