Congressional and food-aid groups say the White House quickly dropped plans for an executive order to put all U.S. food aid on U.S. flagged vessels, reported Reuters. The idea gained some support as an America First initiative but foes said it would drive up shipping costs and thereby reduce the volume of food delivered to needy areas.
At present, 50 percent of food aid is carried on U.S. “bottoms,” as required by law. The United States is the world’s largest food-aid donor, shipping U.S.-produced food through the Food for Peace program, created during the Cold War, to alleviate hunger and encourage local food production. Shipping and storage consumes half of the food aid budget.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker of Tennessee, told Reuters that he discussed the issue with President Trump. “As a businessman, he understands that expanding the cargo preference would substantially drive up the cost of food aid and cause more people to starve around the world,” Corker said in an email. In his proposed budget for fiscal 2018, Trump asked for termination of Food for Peace in favor of food vouchers, cash transfers, purchase of food from countries near to disaster areas, and purchase of some U.S. commodities in the name of greater efficiency.