US Grains Council : Video: USGC Trade Team Highlights Impact of U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) sent a team of U.S. sorghum producers and traders to Colombia and Peru last month to promote their crops and roll out the Council's 2015/2016 Sorghum Early Harvest Quality Report. While the group was in Colombia, team members saw firsthand the benefits of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA).

'The agreement helps everyone win,' said Carlos Lopez Coello of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. 'We saw in Colombia that 100 percent of their imported corn and sorghum is from the United States. This agreement also helps Colombians reduce the cost to produce their feed rations since the agreement decreases taxes on imported feed ingredients, like corn and sorghum.'

The FTA allows U.S. corn and sorghum imports to enter the country duty free, which is creating business opportunities, according to Miguel Davalos of Attebury Grain, who participated in the team.

'There's a lot of opportunity in Colombia with the agreement,' Davalos said. 'The U.S. grain industry has a competitive edge versus other countries, which is a key component of the whole trade agreement.

'When I return to the United States, I plan to start drafting some numbers to see what other opportunities my company can capture under the FTA.'

Mission participants, in addition to Davalos and Coello, included Barry Evans of Texas Sorghum Grain Producers; Kathy Brorman of Texas Sorghum Grain Producers; USGC Regional Director of the Western Hemisphere Marri Carrow; and USGC Manager of Global Programs Heidi Bringenberg.

Click here to view more photos from this mission.