June 2, 2026
Mr. Schiff introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to expand agricultural market access, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Expanding Market Access Act
.
Sec. 2. Agricultural trade promotion and facilitation
(a) Modification to foreign market development cooperator program
Section 203(c) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(4) Technical assistance to improve infrastructure in foreign markets for united states agricultural commodities
(A) In general
As part of the program established under this subsection, the Secretary shall enter into contracts or other agreements, with eligible trade organizations or with nonprofit organizations with expertise in supply chain infrastructure, to provide needs assessments, training, and other technical assistance to enhance the capabilities of infrastructure in new and developing foreign markets, including infrastructure relating to cold chain capacity, port improvements, and other developments, to ensure that United States agricultural commodities are not damaged or lost due to deficiencies of such infrastructure.
(B) Limitation
Of the amounts made available to carry out the program established under this subsection, not more than $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2027 and not more than $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2028 and each fiscal year thereafter may be made available to carry out this paragraph.
(b) Report on competitiveness of united states specialty crops
Section 203(e)(7) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623(e)(7)) is amended to read as follows:
(7) Biennial report
(A) In general
The Secretary, in consultation with the United States Trade Representative, shall submit every 2 years to the appropriate congressional committees a report detailing the competitiveness of United States specialty crops.
(B) Elements
The report required by subparagraph (A) shall—
(i)
identify and analyze acts, policies, or practices of foreign countries that constitute significant barriers to, or distortions of, United States exports of specialty crops, including the imposition of—
(I)
tariffs (including retaliatory tariffs) or quotas (including tariff-rate quotas); and
(II)
nontariff barriers, including technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, import licensing procedures, and subsidies;
(ii)
identify acts, policies, or practices of foreign countries that enhance the competitiveness of imported specialty crops with domestic specialty crop producers;
(iii)
identify and analyze any differences in applicable food safety regulations of foreign countries that may result in imported specialty crops posing a risk to United States consumers;
(iv)
make an estimate of the impacts on the competitiveness of United States specialty crops of any act, policy, or practice identified under clauses (i) and (ii);
(v)
assess the extent to which each act, policy, or practice identified under clauses (i) and (ii) are subject to international agreements to which the United States is a party;
(vi)
include information with respect to any action taken by the executive or legislative branch during the 2 years preceding submission of the report, or expected to be taken after submission of the report, to eliminate any act, policy, or practice identified under clauses (i) and (ii), including—
(I)
any action under section 301;
(II)
negotiations or consultations with foreign governments, which may include engagement through the standing committee on sanitary and phytosanitary matters established under a free trade agreement to which the United States is a party; and
(III)
action at the World Trade Organization, including dispute settlement actions, consultations, or negotiations; and
(vii)
a description of—
(I)
any funds provided under subsection (f)(3)(A)(iv) that were not obligated in the fiscal year preceding submission of the report; and
(II)
the reason such funds were not obligated.
(C) Comment period
In preparing the report required by subparagraph (A), the Secretary, in coordination with the United States Trade Representative, shall seek and consider comments from the public and from the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables.
(D) Form of report
The report required by subparagraph (A) shall be made available to the public in machine-readable format.
(E) Appropriate congressional committees defined
In this paragraph, the term appropriate congressional committees means—
(i)
the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives; and
(ii)
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
(c) Modification and extension of funding
Section 203(f) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623(f)) is amended—
(1)
by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
(2) Funding amount
Of the funds of, or an equal value of commodities owned by, the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section the following amounts, to remain available until expended:
(A)
For fiscal year 2026, $255,000,000.
(B)
For fiscal year 2027, $500,000,000.
(C)
For each of fiscal years 2028 through 2031, $533,000,000.; and
(2)
in paragraph (3)(A)—
(A)
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking For each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023, the Secretary
and inserting The Secretary
;
(B)
in clause (i), by striking not less than
and all that follows through the end and inserting the following:
not less than—
(I)
$200,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
(II)
$400,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; and
(III)
$410,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2028 through 2031.;
(C)
in clause (ii), by striking not less than
and all that follows through the end and inserting the following:
not less than—
(I)
$34,500,000 for fiscal year 2026;
(II)
$70,500,000 for fiscal year 2027; and
(III)
$82,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2028 through 2031.;
(D)
in clause (iii), by striking not more than
and all that follows through the end and inserting the following:
not more than—
(I)
$8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027; and
(II)
$16,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2028 through 2031.;
(E)
in clause (iv), by striking Corporation
and all that follows through the end and inserting the following:
Corporation—
(I)
$9,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and
(II)
$18,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.; and
(F)
in clause (v)(I), by striking commodities,
and all that follows through the end and inserting the following: “commodities—
(aa)
$3,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027; and
(bb)
$7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2028 through 2031.
(d) Repeals
The following provisions of law are repealed:
(1)
Section 718 of title VII of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (as enacted by section 101(a) of division A of Public Law 105–277; 7 U.S.C. 5623 note).
(2)
Section 10602 of Public Law 119–21 (7 U.S.C. 5623a).