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of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), if approved 

 by Congress, will provide greater market access and thus wider 

 opportunities for increasing U.S. exports. The world agricultural 

 trade environment is changing in other ways as well. Markets are 

 emerging in East Asia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere that show 

 potential for becoming major consumers of U.S. agricultural 

 products. And high-value products, such as fresh fruit, processed 

 foods, and consumer-ready products, are a growing share of world 

 agricultural trade. At the same time, international agricultural 

 trade has become highly competitive; U.S. agricultural exporters 

 have been increasingly confronted by competitors who have 

 government support for aggressive and sophisticated marketing 

 practices . 



In light of these circumstances, USDA programs should shift from a 

 production-oriented approach to a more market-oriented approach. 

 Since the Great Depression, U.S. agricultural policies and programs 

 have primarily been directed at improving the efficiency of the 

 production of agricultural commodities, and many USDA export 

 activities have been aimed at seeking foreign markets for excess 

 production. These programs helped to increase U.S. exports in the 

 days when U.S. and world agricultural trade consisted heavily of 

 trade in a few major bulk commodities, such as corn, wheat, and 

 soybeans. But these programs have not been sufficiently responsive 

 to current shifts in global trade from bulk commodities to 

 profitable market opportunities in high-value products. 



