Lindberg: 'The World Is Our Oyster'
Published: Friday, February 27, 2026
U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Luke Lindberg last week gave an update on agricultural trade policy, stating that the U.S. agricultural trade market is showing promise for 2026. He spoke during the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum in Arlington, Va.
"In trade you're either moving forward or you're going backwards," Lindberg said.
He set the stage by describing the work that has been done to move the needle on U.S. trade.
"In the beginning months of the year, we were averaging at a $5-billion-a-month agricultural trade deficit. That's $5 billion a month trade deficit which has historically benefited from having a trade surplus with the world," Lindberg said.
He announced that in the final months of 2025, that average had dropped to about $700 million in deficit.
Lindberg added that the No. 1 issue for agricultural trade is the trade deficit, which he plans to tackle.
"I don't fully know, and I don't think anybody fully grasps, exactly how this is going to play out," he said. "We don't know if it's going to be the dairy industry that's going to be the big winner, or if it's going to be the soybean industry or if it's going to be livestock or something else. Truly, the world is our oyster."
But what excites Lindberg the most is U.S. farmers' ability to adapt and innovate to create new products and forge new trade markets.
"As we level the playing field, I think U.S. agriculture wins, and I also think that one of our hallmarks is that ability to innovate That's where American agriculture shines and outcompetes our competition around the world," Lindberg said.
Together with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Julie Callahan, Lindberg opened the annual session with a discussion of current trade negotiations and spotlighted market access improvements made over the past year.
Moderating the discussion was USDA's Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Chief of Staff Riley Padgett.
Callahan said 2026 and beyond will see more trade deals.
"We intend to have additional agreements over the line and bring back an agricultural trade surplus," she said.
Lindberg and Callahan said they work as a tag team to create and secure new trade deals and keep new partners accountable to their promises. They also agreed there is a different trade paradigm in play.
"The opportunity field has shifted," Lindberg said.
While new trade deals are being forged for agricultural exports, Lindberg also noted that fewer imports are expected, which shows that more Americans are eating U.S. produced food.
"It provides jobs, provides market stability, and it also contributes to the overall balance of trade that we're looking for," he said. "Together, that's how we're going to change the game on the export side."
Callahan called reciprocal tariffs a "game changer," stating that they quickly moved markets more favorably for U.S. products. She said that for years she and the USTR would attempt to "break down" nontariff barriers that prevented the U.S. from gaining full access to markets. An example she gave was dairy markets in the E.U.
"USTR had previously been somewhat on defense when it came to geographical limitations, because the Europeans were operating a lot of market access in exchange for monopolizing the cheeses," Callahan said.
She said while they were working to open those markets one by one, reciprocal tariffs have been addressing that challenge "across the board."
Callahan also noted that countries are beginning to accept U.S. product standards rather than adding on regulations to meet other requirements.
She touted seven signed trade agreements and said there are many others in the works, including Indonesia, Vietnam and countries several in Southeast Asia and Latin America. She added that there are emerging markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Lindberg described his Trade Reciprocity for U.S. Manufacturers and Producers (TRUMP) missions as a "rapid response" strategy to connect farmers with potential trade partners.
"People in these countries don't want to buy farm commodities and products from guys who look like me, who are government employees," he said. "They want to meet our farmers."
He said these trips oftentimes happen within weeks of a trade agreement to boost the relationship between buyers and sellers. Lindberg highlighted the ethanol trade between the U.S. and the U.K., stating that he anticipates 50% more ethanol being exported to the U.K. due to personal relationships forged between farmers and U.K. buyers.
Lindberg and Callahan also fielded audience questions, including what they expect out of the USDMCA Review and purchase commitments in trade deals.
The two trade experts agreed that it is still early to tell. Callahan said there are a number of things that need to be altered, such as offshoring value-added products and seasonal produce, while others should remain unaltered. Lindberg said it is still too early to see what all the review will entail.
When asked about concrete purchasing commitments within recent trade deals, Callahan said the focus of the agreements was on removing trade barriers. The next step is setting up measurable commitments.
"We're looking at long-term market access," she said.
Lindberg added that "private sector commitments are going through."
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