When you think about the saying, “Chaos is a ladder,” trade may not come to mind for most, but it does for me.
Amidst all the Washington chaos about the short- and long-term impacts of import tariffs and retaliatory tariffs by many of our trading partners, there is still untapped potential for improved market access, economic growth, and a chance at leveling the playing field.
Rice is one of the most protected commodities in the world. Its cultural and political sensitivity has caused drama in many trade negotiations over the years, and I can respect that. It’s a staple food for more than half of the globe, and growing, processing, shipping, and selling it provides food and jobs for billions of people on six continents.
Here in the U.S., we grow rice on nearly 3 million acres, predominantly in Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas, but in other states as well. This production and the associated businesses provide more than 125,000 jobs in small rural towns and contribute more than $34 billion to the U.S. economy every year.
We export half of that rice crop to over 120 countries around the world, and we’re a key part of U.S. domestic and international food aid programs. We supply the U.S. retail, wholesale, and food service sectors and contribute toward American-made products such as Anheuser-Busch beer, breakfast cereal, sake, pet food, and more. It’s safe to say that U.S.-grown rice is consumed in some form or fashion in every county across our country each day.
Like most U.S. commodities, we are leaps and bounds ahead of our global competitors in sustainability efforts, food safety, and worker protections, and our thousands of family farming operations grow their crops as efficiently as possible, working on razor-thin, and sometimes negative, margins.
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Our industry has always been a champion of free trade agreements, and we have seen economic benefits from nearly all the U.S. agreements at some point in time that incorporated increased access to rice. However, I will add the caveat that while we were dominant producers and exporters for many years, things have changed, and we can only continue to support free trade when it’s fair.
This beautiful rice trade surplus that we’ve enjoyed for more than 300 years is quickly diminishing. Our global competitors, India, Thailand, Pakistan, China, and Vietnam, are encroaching not only on our third-country markets but also right here in our backyard.
Imports of foreign rice into the U.S. have doubled in the last decade, with a record $1.5 billion in 2024, with imports from India and Thailand alone equaling $1.2 billion. That’s nearly the same as the U.S. agricultural trade deficit with India at $1.3 billion. On top of that, the 2024 total U.S. trade deficits with India and Thailand grew to over $40 billion and $35 billion, respectively.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative found that India subsidizes their rice farmers in excess of 90 percent of their value of production. India’s government covers costs from seed to fertilizer to irrigation. They then buy the rice at a generous guaranteed rate and sell it back to private rice mills for cents on the dollar, where eventually, that rice makes its way into the world trade channels at a discounted price. It is impossible for our farmers and processors to compete, and we are years overdue in taking a formal dispute settlement case to the World Trade Organization.
The most helpful thing President Donald Trump could do to help America’s rice farmers right now is to protect our best market – our domestic market - through product-specific reciprocal tariffs against bad actors, being strategic to avoid unintended consequences from our markets with strong existing exports and/or growth potential.
U.S. rice has been targeted by our trading partners when they retaliate. It’s also been targeted by our trading partners outside of retaliation through non-tariff barriers. And even when we have free trade agreements, we often see flagrant disregard for the rules and tariff barriers resurrected. It’s time we embrace the use of targeted product-specific reciprocal tariffs on rice. What have we got to lose? They violate commitments and hurt our farmers and American businesses.
If tariffs are here and a key tool being used by the Trump administration to right the wrongdoings of our lopsided trading partners and global market manipulators, I think soon-to-be USTR Jamieson Greer and the rest of the administration should use them in a way that strategically helps our rice industry protect our home turf while also negotiating enforceable permanent access into new and existing markets with opportunity to maintain or grow a U.S. rice trade surplus.
At the same time, the administration is wise to strategically review all agricultural products and trading partners so as not to take a one-size-fits-all approach.
Peter Bachmann is president and CEO of USA Rice.
