(Washington, D.C., May 30, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins will visit Rome, Italy, on June 2-3. During her visit, Secretary Rollins will reinforce the Administration’s expectations for improved agricultural market access to Italy and the European Union and will encourage the United Nations organizations in Rome to prioritize American interests, reduce costs, and focus on their core mandates.
“The United States’ relationships with Italian buyers and consumers foster tens of billions in bilateral trade and investment. However, U.S. agricultural stakeholders have been unfairly left behind for far too long by the European Union and Italy’s high tariffs on U.S. agricultural products and numerous non-tariff barriers,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins. “In coordination with Ambassador Tilman Fertitta, we at USDA will continue working to level the playing field and increase market opportunities with the EU and Italy for hard-working U.S. farmers, ranchers, foresters, and food processors.”
Secretary Rollins will meet with senior Italian government and International Organization officials, including the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forests Francesco Lollobrigida, Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires for the U.S. Embassy Marta Youth, Charge d’Affaires for the U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome Rodney Hunter, UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Qu Dongyu, and UN World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain.
Secretary Rollins has made it a top priority to advocate on behalf of American agriculture on the world stage. This means increasing access for American products in existing markets, opening new markets with strong demand for our products, and making sure trading partners are treating American farmers, ranchers, and producers fairly. This comes after four years of inaction by the Biden Administration, which caused America’s agricultural trade balance to go from a surplus under President Trump’s first term, to a significant deficit under President Biden.
This trade mission follows Secretary Rollins’s trip to the U.K. in May, and precedes future trade travel to India, Vietnam, Japan, Peru, and Brazil over the next four months. Other USDA Trade Missions this year include Peru, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mexico.
United Kingdom: The U.K. is the United States’s fourteenth largest agricultural export market. U.S. producers face disproportionately high tariffs, small tariff-rate quota volumes, and unjustified non-tariff barriers when exporting to the U.K.
India: The United States is India’s sixth largest supplier of agricultural products. The U.S. has a $1.3 billion agricultural trade deficit with India.
Brazil: The United States has a $7 billion agricultural trade deficit with Brazil.
Japan: Japan is a top five market for many key U.S. commodities, including corn, beef, pork, wheat, rice, and soybeans.
Vietnam: Vietnam is the United States’s tenth largest agricultural export market. The U.S. has no trade agreement with Vietnam while major competitors like China do.
Peru: Peru is the United States’s third largest South American market for agricultural exports, and the U.S. remains Peru’s second largest agricultural supplier. Key prospects for U.S. agricultural exports to Peru include ethanol, dairy products, meat, tree nuts, and pulses.
