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Press Releases

WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) applauded the announcement of a protocol that will permit the import of U.S. milled rice into China, calling it “great news for Arkansas’s rice producers and our state’s economy.”  

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made the announcement today after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completed negotiations with Chinese officials that had dragged on for over ten years. The protocol will allow the U.S. to begin exporting rice to China for the first time.

“Today’s announcement is great news for Arkansas’s rice producers and our state’s economy. I commend President Trump and Secretary Perdue for following through on this long-stalled action so that American rice producers can gain access to one of the world’s largest markets. This agreement has been in the making for over a decade. I am pleased that it is now across the finish line,” Boozman said.

When China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, its rice market was opened. However, in the years that have transpired, U.S. rice has been blocked from competing as the two nations lacked the phytosanitary protocol that was finalized today.

China is the world’s largest producer, importer and consumer of rice. According to USA Rice, China consumes “the equivalent of the entire U.S. rice crop every 13 days.”