Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg says the focus in 2026 is on turning new trade agreements into measurable gains for farmers. “The number one thing I heard from our farmers and ranchers was we need more market access, and our negotiating team and the President, really leading front and center on this, have gotten new market access,” Lindberg said. “And so in 2026, our job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is to work with industry, work with our farmers and our ranchers, to turn market access into market share. We’re hyper-focused on it this year.” Lindberg says early results are already showing up in the numbers, pointing to a sharp improvement in the trade outlook. “One year into the administration, we’ve seen a 42 percent reduction in our agricultural trade deficit forecast.
