North Carolina turkey production topped $1 billion last year. It accounts for 10% of all turkey exports that could be on the increase after a reduction in tariffs by India. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper visited NC State University’s Turkey Education Unit on Tuesday to celebrate the new opportunity.

If we can open more doors across the world and that will help our farmers here and help the North Carolina economy.

Ambassador Tai echoed that sentiment.

India has not been a traditionally large market for our turkey exports, in part due to its tariff structure, which increased over the last couple of years. So taking a tariff from 30% down to 5% is going to be a huge cost incentive. And I think that it will also be an opportunity for the United States and North Carolina in particular to showcase turkeys and turkey meat to the people of India.

As part of the deal, tariffs on frozen duck fresh frozen and dried blueberries and cranberries and processed berries as well have also been reduced. Tai said it also helps us address the issue of food insecurity around the world.

We have extremely efficient, productive producers, we produce on the basis of science, we regulate on the basis of science and risk, and we are promoting that kind of approach around the world, and we will take the tariff breaks wherever we can accomplish them with a trading partner.

The USTR said it’s another step that will serve to spark growth in the poultry industry.

What we really want to see is that this helps to grow the turkey industry and produce benefits here so that our producers can be larger parts of the community and can support all the other aspects of the community, the small businesses, the opportunities, where they are operating with where they’re growing their turkeys.

Tai also addressed the ongoing dispute with Mexico concerning its announced ban on importing GMO corn.

We’ve requested the panel. The panel should be being stood up right now and then it will come out with timeline and procedures. Again, I am determined for the shutdown not to impact our work, but in a shutdown scenario, we are doing triage every single day. But that said, over the course of this dispute under USMCA rules, there are strict timelines. This one will be a little bit different from, for example, for dairy dispute, because there is a science element to our defending our biotechnology, but I would expect something in the next six-to-nine-month period, and that’s fast for trade dispute.