Work with USTR to remove foreign barriers to U.S. biotech crops

Partially done

Printed page 307 10. Department of Agriculture

“Use all tools available to remove improper trade barriers against agricultural biotechnology. The USDA should work closely with the Office of the United States Trade Representative to remove improper barriers imposed by other countries to block U.S. agricultural goods.”

What has happened

Jan 30, 2026 Partially done
A concrete foreign biotechnology barrier was removed in one market. Ambassador Greer signed the United States-Guatemala Agreement on Reciprocal Trade on 2026-01-30; USTR's own account of what farm groups got from it says the agreement's biotechnology chapter "mandates science- and risk-based regulations are the standard, while also protecting the grain trade from duplicative regulations and non-tariff barriers", and that biotech products approved in the United States are automatically approved in Guatemala. `partial` and not `done` because the ask is general — improper barriers imposed by other countries — and one bilateral chapter is a piece of it.
- USTR: Ambassador Greer Signs United States-Guatemala Agreement on Reciprocal Trade
  Primary Executive branch Jan 30, 2026
- USTR: American Farmers, Industry Leaders, and Lawmakers Applaud President Trump’s Trade Deals with Partners Across the Globe — Guatemala biotechnology chapter mandates science- and risk-based regulation and automatic approval of U.S.-approved biotech products
  Primary Executive branch Feb 11, 2026

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

USTR’s press index on ustr.gov is browsable by month and individual releases open; the 2026 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers was downloaded from ustr.gov and carries 80 mentions of biotechnology, but as a statutory annual catalog it records barriers rather than their removal, so it is not cited as Evidence here.
The 2026-02-11 release is a compilation of industry statements published by USTR; it is Primary in the sense that USTR published it, and it is paired above with the signing release rather than standing alone.
Other in-window agriculture trade instruments checked: EO 14360 (2025-11-14, reciprocal tariff scope for agricultural products), the U.S.-Israel agricultural trade proclamation (2025-12-29) and the Section 301 Brazil action (2026-07-15, ethanol market access). None turns on biotechnology approvals.

Action: other
Object: foreign trade barriers to U.S. agricultural biotechnology
ID: 798