The United States is on the cusp of exporting rice to China for the first time, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, following a Sino-U.S. agreement on a protocol to prevent the introduction of rice pests into China. The trade group USA Rice said the agreement was “a tremendous leap” forward after a decade of work by the industry and USDA for access to the world’s largest rice consuming nation.
China, the world’s most populous nation, is the biggest rice grower, importer and consumer on earth. The lion’s share of the world’s rice is consumed domestically. The United States grows little more than 1 percent of the world crop but is the fifth-largest rice exporter because the world market is so small. The USDA estimates China will import 5 million tonnes of rice this year; the U.S. crop would be 6 million tonnes.
“This market represents an exceptional opportunity today, with enormous potential for growth in the future,” said Perdue. The rice industry said President’s Trump’s focus on trade deficits “put the spotlight on rice.” The next step, said USA Rice, will be an inspection of U.S. facilities by Chinese inspectors.
China agreed to open its market to rice imports when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, but there has been no rice safety protocol between the nations. Most of China’s rice imports come from Southeast Asia. “We know that market access in China is difficult, and rice shipments will not happen tomorrow, but we are much closer to a meeting China’s market demand with U.S. rice,” said USA Rice chief executive Betsy Ward.