USDA Unveils Two New Cotton Measures: Stackable Insurance Endorsements for 2027 and a FAS-Run Tariff Quota System
CALDWELL, Texas — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced two new initiatives under the Great American Cotton Plan on October 16 at Giesenschlag Farms in Caldwell, Texas, covering crop-insurance flexibility and the administration of cotton tariff-rate quotas.
Under the first measure, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) will allow producers, including cotton growers, to purchase multiple endorsements on a single crop insurance policy beginning with the 2027 crop year. The change rests on provisions of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, signed on July 4, 2025, and RMA must issue final guidance to Approved Insurance Providers and agents by November 30, 2026.
Under the second, the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) will take over the cotton tariff-rate quota (TRQ) process and design an incentive mechanism to launch in 2027: purchases of U.S. cotton by Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia would be verified, and apparel produced with U.S. cotton and textile inputs would in return receive preferential tariff treatment.
“Under the last administration, the United States lost our title as the world's top cotton exporter... we launched the Great American Cotton Plan in May... We are not going to stop until we restore America's cotton industry,” Rollins said. USDA says the plan, launched in May 2026, rests on four pillars: promoting domestic cotton consumption, increasing domestic demand and production to make cotton more affordable, improving cotton trade, and protecting growers against risk.
(Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Texas Batesville 棉田日落时分的采棉机（资料图）。照片：美国农业部 USDA，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。A cotton picker at sunset in a Batesville, Texas cotton field (file photo). Photo: USDA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
