SENATE AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, & FORESTRY COMMITTEE HEARING
For questions on the note below, please contact the Delta Strategy Group team.
On April 29, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a confirmation hearing for the following nominees:
- Luke Lindberg, Nominee for Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs
- Devon Westhill, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights
Key Takeaways
The following is a summary of the main topics explored in the hearing, with further details in the Discussion section below.
- Chairman Boozman (R-AR) emphasized the urgency of addressing high input costs and the projected $49 billion agricultural trade deficit, highlighting the critical role of the Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs in expanding market access and coordinating trade strategy. He stressed the importance of Farm Bill programs while Senator Hoeven (R-ND) raised the importance of preserving the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as a tool to support agriculture, citing its use in the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) during the first Trump administration.
- Luke Lindberg affirmed that he would fully support market access programs, emphasizing their importance in reducing the agricultural trade deficit. He highlighted that agricultural trade is a “team sport” and outlined his intent to convene farm groups to identify priority markets and target products, leveraging interagency coordination to drive U.S. agricultural exports back into surplus.
- Ranking Member Klobuchar (D-MN) raised concerns that reckless tariff policy threatens U.S. producers, reiterating that farmers want “trade, not aid.” Senator Smith (D-MN) emphasized that farmers have not fully recovered the market share lost during the tariff retaliation period and called for efforts to promote trade stability, with Senator Warnock (D-GA) warning against isolationist stance and strategy on trade. They asked Lindberg about protection and preservation of export markets, with Senator Smith questioning the formation of new trade relationships when current agreements are undermined by inconsistent policy as she stressed that export markets require continuity and trust.
- Lindberg highlighted that trade deals are “on the horizon” and the new market access to be generated through President Trump’s negotiations, alongside his commitment to helping farmers and ranchers navigate short-term changes aimed at more fair-trade deals. He pledged to raise issues regarding the factors undermining reciprocal trade during trade discussions and emphasized the importance of dismantling barriers to market access for U.S. producers. He outlined the involvement of interagency partners, including U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Commerce, and Treasury, to ensure farmers’ representation trade negotiations and that new markets, such as India and the EU, are prioritized for U.S. agricultural exports.
- Senator Fischer (R-NE) emphasized the need to secure biofuel market access in countries such as India and Brazil, noting U.S. producers are take advantage of avenues to expand exports. Lindberg agreed, stating he would take a strategic and consultative approach by inviting producers and commodity groups to share priorities and guide trade policy. He underscored that achieving a $60 billion export sales target is necessary to return the U.S. agricultural trade balance to surplus.
- Senator Slotkin (D-MI) discussed the long-term harms experienced by soybean farmers during the Trump administration’s trade war with China, citing $27 billion in losses, a fifteen percent drop in market share, and $23 billion in taxpayer-funded payments to offset the damage. She questioned why U.S. farmers needed subsidies to recover from a policy-driven disruption that undercut their competitiveness abroad. Lindberg noted that agricultural exports dipped following the imposition of Trump-era tariffs but argued that after the Phase One agreement, exports to China rebounded to 39 percent above pre-tariff levels.
- Senator Tuberville (R-AL) raised concerns about the surge of low-value synthetic textile imports from Southeast Asia exploiting the $8 00 de minimis exemption, warning of its adverse impact on U.S. cotton producers. Lindberg affirmed that President Trump has prioritized addressing this loophole and committed to working with Customs and Border Protection and interagency partners to ensure enforcement and protect U.S. manufacturers and farmers.
Opening Statements and Testimony
Chairman John Boozman (R-AR)
The challenges that farmers continue to face, which have been consistently communicated to this Committee in the Farm Bill hearings held so far this Congress, show why it is so important that Secretary Rollins have her team in place. The costs for fuel, seed, and fertilizer remain high, as do interest rates. Farmers everywhere are losing money on every acre they cultivate, all the while in desperate need of an updated Farm Bill safety net and risk management tools. Secretary Rollins has done a great job supporting farmers through these challenges and the two nominees before us today will be important members of her team. The U.S. agricultural trade deficit is projected to reach a record $49 billion this year, and both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers continuing to inhibit U.S. agriculture from reaching key markets and opening new markets. Lindberg will be tasked with expanding access for U.S. agricultural products into foreign markets and promoting U.S. food and agriculture exports as well as representing USDA in trade negotiations, including collaborating with USTR, Commerce, the State Department, and the White House. Producers rely on this position to elevate the significance of agricultural trade issues in broader trade discussions, and that will be especially true given the current uncertain trade environment. He will be responsible for coordinating commodity procurement among various agencies within USDA, helping expand markets for U.S. producers. Lindberg’s prior government service, private sector expertise, and his deep trade background will serve him well in this role. Producers want an improved relationship with USDA and to know USDA is a partner that will provide them with the tools needed.
Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Based on our meeting, I believe Lindberg is well qualified to serve as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, given his work done in-state and clear understanding of the importance of trade for American farmers. Farmers are facing input costs, weather events, and an international market that is now completely uncertain because of these tariffs. They need markets to sell their product as twenty percent of what U.S. farmers and ranchers produce goes outside of our country. There are so many customers now, and more potential ones. I have concerns that smaller farmers and ranchers are going to be roadkill if this is not resolved as soon as possible. The top three countries targeted for tariffs, Mexico, Canada, and China, are also our top three agricultural export markets and account for half of all U.S. ag exports. We are already seeing retaliation, and our farmers have said they want trade, not aid. I had a discussion with Lindberg about the need to ensure we have export markets, because there are so many opportunities out there. We need to get this settled as soon as possible.
Luke Lindberg, Nominee for USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs
America’s agricultural trade deficit, which is the worst in American history, is driven by several factors, but principally by the lack of an America First trade agenda that prioritizes market access for our farmers and ranchers. For too long, we have let other countries access our market and have not negotiated reciprocal access to theirs. Recently, USTR solicited public comment on unfair trade practices forced upon U.S. producers by other nations, and in reading every submission that comments on agriculture, about how much we import. Our ethanol producers are no longer competitive in Brazil because of Brazilian import tariffs. Mexico has enjoyed a 55 percent increase in specialty crop imports into the U.S. in the last decade. Canada has rigged the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) terms against our dairy and wheat farmers. The EU is responsible for roughly half of our overall trade deficit, $23.6 billion, and yet it routinely shuts out our products at the altar of non-scientific based claims. U.S. corn growers cannot rely on China as an export market. America’s agricultural trade deficit is not impacting just one region, political constituency, or segment of the agricultural economy. We all are impacted, and we all must work together to fix it, helping farmers and ranchers navigate short-term changes aimed at more fair-trade deals. I stand ready to both explore new export markets and also hold our existing markets accountable for the deals they made with our family farms. America has not lost our competitive edge in producing food, fuel and fiber; it has merely abdicated our leadership role in feeding the world by allowing others to rig the system against us.
Discussion
Chairman Boozman (R-AR): With the U.S. agricultural trade deficit projected to reach a record $49 billion this year, how will you work to ensure that broader tariff negotiations led by USTR prioritize greater market access for U.S. agricultural exports? Lindberg: Exporting is a team sport, and we must work together to accomplish the task of getting back to surplus. On day one, I would draw the number negative $49 billion on the whiteboard and begin inviting farm groups from across the farm economy to figure out where the countries are, where the markets are, what the products are, and what those dollar values are that get us back to surplus. I want to be an advocate in the interagency process to make sure that USTR, Commerce, and Treasury all know and understand what those priority markets and products are for our agricultural community members.
Chairman Boozman (R-AR): What is your view on the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program? Lindberg: South Dakota Trade led several trade missions overseas in partnership with the Food Export Midwest program, which uses funding programs like MAP and FMD to support our agricultural producers overseas. We also engaged the FAS staff in-country to set up meetings for us, to help guide our agendas, and to get those in the room with the right counterparts for bilateral discussions to help advance our ag community’s needs in those specific markets and execute on the programs’ missions.
Ranking Member Klobuchar (D-MN): What opportunities do you see for market expansion in other countries for U.S. agricultural products? Lindberg: There are several markets that American agricultural producers should be taking advantage of that are currently not at full capacity. India would be my top priority for a market where we should be doing better, as they have 1.4 billion consumers. One of the markets that concerns me the most is the $23.6 billion trade deficit we have with the EU. The basket of goods we produce and the basket of goods they produce are eerily similar, and the trade deficit is too wide. We should have more market access for our producers in the EU as well as India. I read the letter you submitted to Greer and USTR, and I look forward to working with Commerce and Treasury, composing the three lead organizations on trade negotiation that I will be working closely with to ensure that farmers’ voices are well represented in discussions.
Ranking Member Klobuchar (D-MN): Will you commit to ensuring that the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) remains in place to support export market development? Lindberg: I will absolutely commit to the fact that we need to have programs that help reduce our trade deficit. The export promotion programs help us do that.
Senator Hyde-Smith (R-MS): How will you work with the USTR and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure strict enforcement of inspection standards and prevent unsafe imports from harming consumers and domestic producers? Lindberg: I will work to ensure that our catfish producers get the market here in the U.S. that they deserve, working across work across my agency at USDA to support and expand domestic producers’ markets.
Senator Hyde-Smith (R-MS): What steps will you take to ensure that international trade restrictions on U.S. products are science-based and lifted promptly when conditions warrant? Lindberg: Tariff barriers are one aspect of trade policy that countries use against our farmers and ranchers. There are a lot of non-tariff barriers, and it is vitally important to have that market access and be able to get beyond that. The Codex Office (USCO) works with agencies around the world to make sure we have a set of agricultural standards that meet the needs of our farmers and ranchers. That would be one avenue I would work through to make sure we set the appropriate standards that benefit our farmers and ranchers. I will show up and knock the door down and say it is time to open up, it is time to move forward. This is no longer acceptable under President Trump and the America First trade agenda.
Senator Hoeven (R-ND): Do you believe the CCC is an important tool to maintain for agriculture, such as the MFP under the first Trump administration? Do you support program enforcement as a means to prevent unfair trade practices and protect our domestic industry from dumping? Lindberg: I do.
Senator Hoeven (R-ND): How will you help navigate short-term disruptions to achieve the long-term trade and economic goals we share with the Trump administration, such as securing better terms for our producers and exporters? Lindberg: According to Secretary Bessent, there are trade deals on the horizon, and we will see new market access generated through President Trump’s negotiations. I look forward to the boom that will come to our family farms when we get those trade deals signed in the not-too-distant future. The President has also made very clear through a post on social media that he will have the farmers’ and ranchers’ backs should it be needed. Senator Hoeven (R-ND): Have you had substantial dialogue with USTR, including Representative Greer, about how you can work together to secure better terms for our producers? Lindberg: I do not think it would be appropriate for me at this stage to have those substantive discussions. Ambassador Greer and I served as Chiefs of Staff in the first Trump administration, and we built a relationship through that so forward to regular communications.
Senator Hoeven (R-ND): Do you agree that a strong Farm Bill must include affordable crop insurance, updated ARC/PLC reference prices, and a viable countercyclical safety net, alongside trade tools like MAP and FMD, to best support our farmers? Lindberg: I certainly would love to utilize the MAP and FMD programs to open vast new market opportunities for our farmers and ranchers.
Senator Slotkin (D-MI): Can you acknowledge that, during the last administration’s trade war with China, soybean farmers suffered $27 billion in losses and a fifteen percent market share drop that was never recovered, and that $23 billion in taxpayer-funded payments were used to cover those losses? Why were we cutting checks using taxpayer dollars from this Committee to subsidize farmers who just wanted to compete, after we lost market share due to the trade war with China? Lindberg: If you look at the trade data from our Phase One trade negotiations with China during the first Trump administration, agricultural exports did experience a drop in the year following the implementation of tariffs by President Trump. However, if you look at the trade data for the year after the Phase One deal was signed between the U.S. and China, agricultural exports increased to 39 percent higher than pre-tariff levels. Before the tariffs started, there was a baseline and after the tariffs were implemented, we saw a dip, followed by market facilitation payments, and then the year after that, a 39 percent increase over pre-tariff agricultural export levels to China.
Senator Tuberville (R-AL): Can you talk about the surge of low-value synthetic textile imports from Southeast Asia coming through the $800 de minimis loophole, and what can be done, especially as President Trump has worked to close it, to protect U.S. cotton? Lindberg: President Trump has, based on the news reports I have seen, taken the de minimis exemption seriously. This exemption has been a tragedy not only for our cotton farmers but also for manufacturers and many other industries across America. I will absolutely work alongside, and look forward to working alongside, our interagency colleagues to ensure that those de minimis exemptions are held accountable and comply with the law of the land.
Senator Tuberville (R-AL): Can you speak to USDA’s plans to ensure sufficient due diligence in inspecting foreign producers who do not meet U.S. food safety standards? Lindberg: I look forward to working with my colleagues and making sure that they have timely market analysis and market intelligence on those exact issues.
Senator Tuberville (R-AL): Would you commit to ensuring that USDA and USTR work together to advance President Trump’s agenda to reduce trade barriers and prioritize market access for farmers? Lindberg: I look forward to doing exactly that.
Senator Smith (D-MN): What can we do to create and preserve export markets? How do you plan to build new trade relationships and negotiate agreements in an environment where existing deals are being torn up over issues unrelated to trade? Lindberg: My objective is to work with the interagency partners across the Treasury, Commerce, and USTR functions. FAS plays a vital role in those discussions, with market intelligence that we provide back to feed into those discussions. I have worked with Secretary Rollins at the America First Policy Institute for the last three years, and I have also engaged with many of my counterparts who are already confirmed for senior-level roles at those other organizations and agencies I will be working with to make sure that our farmers’ and ranchers’ opinions are well represented at those tables.
Senator Justice (R-WV): What are the first steps you would take to support President Trump’s trade agenda while ensuring that farmers and ranchers are not caught in the crossfire of efforts to level the playing field? Lindberg: President Trump has already begun the process of righting this wrong and righting this ship. You cannot win the game unless you have a strategy to win the game. The way we win is by inviting our farm groups in and figuring out where we are deficient, what markets present opportunities, what commodities are involved, and what dollar values we can expect. If we have a game plan in place, it is our job to knock those trade barriers down and secure those market access opportunities. Then it is the responsibility of the businesses, the farmers, the associations, and all the groups that support them to get out there and win the day alongside us. This is about taking a strategic and very targeted approach, getting a game plan together, and then executing on it.
Senator Fischer (R-NE): How do you plan to gather input and feedback from farmers and ranchers on where they see export opportunities or face challenges, such as biofuel access in India and Brazil? How would you coordinate with organizations that receive USDA trade promotion funding to maximize export opportunities for U.S. producers? Lindberg: I plan to go into my office on day one and begin inviting producers and all different commodity groups to come in and have a conversation that drives the outcome. The actual USTR comment window that was recently opened on unfair trade practices was exceedingly helpful, and many groups began this process for us. We have to get to the $60 billion sales figure so that we get back into surplus, because America has always fed the world, and right now we are not meeting our mandate there, and we could be doing better. It will be a very iterative and consultative process. In my current capacity as CEO of South Dakota Trade, we have worked extensively to help promote our agricultural products overseas. This would be a continuation of the work I have already been doing.
Senator Fischer (R-NE): What are your goals when it comes to China, and how would you respond to Americans who feel anxious about tariffs and want to see progress that meets U.S. needs? Lindberg: Secretary Bessent said “the aperture of uncertainty is narrowing.” The data point after we signed the China Phase One agreement in the last Trump administration showed a net increase in agricultural exports to China, up 39 percent from pre-tariff levels. We know that trade deals work. We are hopefully going to get trade deals done early in the process, and that is going to increase those export opportunities in the not-too-distant future. I look forward to working with Congress and producers to get that message across and that we are here as a lifeline for them.
Senator Warnock (D-GA): What will you do to counter isolationist trade strategies and open new export markets for farmers who want trade, not aid? Lindberg: We absolutely want to open export markets and increase market access. The trade agreements that were signed in the first Trump administration are examples that we can live by, such as the USMCA. We could replicate agreements like that successfully to increase those market access opportunities around the world for producers.