The past year was a significant one for the trade potential of the California rice industry. Movement in multiple different trade arenas has created a positive outlook for the industry in 2020. Some of the most substantial progress was made with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“That’s helpful on a number of fronts. Canada for our rice; Mexico for southern grown rice,” said Jim Morris, Communications Manager for the California Rice Commission. “That doesn’t help us necessarily directly, but the fact that there is a customer base in Mexico that’s willing to get rice grown elsewhere in the U.S. does help us indirectly.”
There were also significant gains made in the South Korean market, which is one of the biggest international markets for rice. “And we’re hoping that rice will be included in the near future in the U.S.-Japan trade talks. Japan is our top overseas market,” Morris noted.
Listen to the report below.
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