Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds the following: Between 1977 and 2019, the export promotion programs of the Department of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the Programs ) have added, on average, $9,600,000,000 per year to the value of United States agricultural exports, equal to a total of nearly $648,000,000,000, or 13.7 percent, in additional export revenue. Between 1977 and 2019, the Programs have generated a net return of $24.50 for every dollar invested. Between 2002 and 2019, the Programs have contributed up to 225,800 full- and part-time jobs across the United States economy.

Between 2002 and 2019, the Programs have added up to $45,000,000,000 in gross economic output and $22,300,000,000 in gross domestic product. Communities across the United States that produce agricultural commodities as varied as apples, blueberries, strawberries, cotton, beef, soybeans, rice, wheat, dairy, corn, citrus, wine, pork, peanuts, cranberries, lentils, tree nuts, timber, poultry, potatoes, and seafood, have utilized the Programs to increase the foreign market access of such communities.

Private sector contributions have helped maintain the public-private partnership between the Department of Agriculture and private agricultural groups as the effective available funds from the Department have declined, with private contributions representing approximately 70 to 77 percent of the funds available for export promotion from 2013 to 2019. Agricultural export promotion programs of foreign competitors have expanded at a far faster rate than the Programs, placing United States producers at a competitive disadvantage in international markets.

The economic impact of the Programs has eroded in recent years, as funding for the Market Access Program has remained static since 2006, and funding for the Foreign Market Development Program has remained static since 2002, while inflation has increased. A recent academic analysis found that doubling public funding for the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program, coupled with increasing private contributions by 10 to 20 percent, would result in average annual gains in agricultural exports of approximately $7,400,000,000.