The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that Acting Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse is leading a mission to promote U.S. agricultural exports to Turkey, this week. Representatives from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania, as well as 20 U.S. companies are participating.
According to , Turkey has become an important market for U.S. food and agricultural products over the past decade with its rapidly developing economy and expanding middle class.
During the mission, the USDA delegation will travel to Istanbul and Ankara to learn about Turkey’s rapidly evolving market conditions and business environment – information that will enable businesses to develop export strategies for Turkey. Companies attending the Turkey trade mission represent a wide variety of agricultural products including dry beans, fruit and nuts, agricultural machinery and more.
“People around the world continue to demand U.S. food and agricultural products, boosting American businesses and supporting our rural communities,” said Scuse. “By participating in this trade mission, U.S. agribusinesses will gain first-hand market information and meet with distributors, importers and other business contacts so they can position themselves to expand their presence in Turkey by promoting the quality, variety and reliability of U.S. food and agricultural products.”
With its rapidly developing economy and expanding middle class, Turkey is becoming a key market for U.S. food and agricultural products. U.S. agricultural exports to the country tripled over the last decade. In fiscal year 2012, two-way agricultural trade between the two countries reached more than $2.4 billion, with U.S. exports accounting for more than 75 percent of the total – a significant contribution to the U.S. agricultural trade surplus.
Turkey is also the second-largest country participant (behind South Korea) in USDA’s GSM-102 program, which provides credit guarantees to encourage financing of commercial exports of U.S. agricultural products while providing competitive credit terms to buyers. In FY 2012, GSM-102 supported sales of approximately $700 million in agricultural commodities to Turkey, including 70 percent of all U.S. soybean and soybean meal exports to Turkey and 35 percent of all cotton.
This trade mission is the first major USDA agricultural trade mission this year for U.S. companies. Successful trade missions to China and Russia were held in 2012.
A complete list of U.S. companies participating in the Turkey agricultural trade mission can be found here.