Trump selects a U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator
(Photo of Julie Callahan.)
After months of urging by agricultural groups, President Donald Trump has nominated Julie Callahan to serve as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
For the past nine years, Callahan has served as the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Agricultural Affairs and Commodity Policy. In total, she has almost 20 years of work in international issues and trade on her resume.
Callahan has also worked in other leadership roles in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, and the American Chemical Society. Multiple agricultural organizations have endorsed this nomination and praised Trump for filling the position.
“Corn grower leaders have been very vocal in recent weeks about the need to fill this important position, as the chief ag negotiator plays a critical role in prioritizing agriculture issues in ongoing trade negotiations,” said National Corn Growers of America President Kenneth Hartman Jr. “We are thrilled to see the president listened and chose someone of this caliber to represent the interests of America’s farmers.”
The chief agricultural negotiator is responsible for coordinating agricultural trade negotiations with other nations and securing fair agricultural trade policies for the U.S. The role is critical to the agriculture industry right now with uncertainly surrounding trade negotiations and tariffs with foreign countries.
“Dr. Callahan is a pro with nearly a decade of experience negotiating trade agreements,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “She understands how important international partnerships are to agriculture and the critical role of strong export markets to strengthen our farm economy. As someone who has come through the ranks and worked directly on trade agreements, including reducing both technical barriers and tariffs, Julie will hit the ground running. Her previous experience in the Foreign Ag Service at USDA and also at FDA provide important perspective to inform her work to help resolve challenging issues on the trade front.”
Gregg Doud, the former USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator during the first Trump administration, approved of Callahan to lead the department. Doud is the currently the president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.
“The role of Chief Agricultural Negotiator is critical to ensuring that American dairy farmers have a voice in trade negotiations,”
Doud said. “Dr. Callahan is the right choice. Her expertise and leadership in agricultural trade policy are second to none. Dairy farmers and the entire U.S. dairy industry look forward to working with her to open new export markets and hold our trading partners accountable.”
Callahan will move to the confirmation hearing process where the Senate will vote to approve or reject her nomination.
Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].
