The US Senate on Dec. 21 voted to confirm Alexis Taylor, former Oregon Department of Agriculture director, as USDA’s Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Affairs. She will be responsible for overseeing international negotiations related to agricultural trade, developing USDA’s trade policies, opening foreign markets to U.S. farm goods, and promoting American agriculture.
The White House nominated Taylor in May, and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced Taylor’s nomination to the full Senate in September. Taylor’s confirmation was praised by numerous trade groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the US Meat Export Federation, the National Milk Producers Federation, the US Dairy Export Council, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.