Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator for Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator for Indiana
Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator for Indiana
Home > Senator Lugar's Farm Bill > Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws

Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws

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T value — See Soil loss tolerance.
TA — Technical assistance.
Taking endangered or threatened species — Taking, in layman's terms, means killing or removing a plant or animal of a species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), or seriously damaging its chances of reproduction. Except under specified circumstances, taking is forbidden under the ESA. The definition of taking is one of the current issues in the ESA debate. Incidental taking of a listed species is a taking which occurs in the course of some other legal activity, whether carried out by a federal or a nonfederal entity.
Takings (of property) — The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution and comparable provisions in many state constitutions bar the taking of private property by government unless just compensation is paid to the property owner. Initially, the Supreme Court recognized only government seizures and physical invasions of private property as takings. Thus, recurring flooding of a farm as the result of a government dam would probably be a taking. In 1922, the Court expanded the concept of takings to include government actions that merely restrict the economic use of private property, if that restriction is severe enough. However, the line between restrictions that take and those that do not has proved elusive; the Court repeatedly stresses that the determination is an ad hoc, case-by-case one. The agricultural community perceives a threat of takings from federal efforts to preserve wetlands and endangered species, though actual court decisions finding takings of farmland are few. The takings issue has also worked against farmers by virtue of a recent case striking down a "right to farm" law that curtailed the right of owners of residential properties adjacent to farms to sue for nuisance based on farm operations. That law was held to effect a taking of a negative easement of the adjacent properties.
Talmadge-Aiken plants — The approximately 250 meat and poultry plants in 10 states where USDA has contracted with state agency inspectors to conduct federal inspection activities. They are now formally known as Federal-State Cooperative Inspection Plants. Even though state employees conduct the inspections in these plants, they are considered to be under the federal rather than state inspection.
Target price — Arbitrary price levels used as benchmarks for making deficiency payments to producers of selected commodities when season average market prices are lower than these target levels. Target prices and deficiency payments were first adopted as commodity program income support policy in the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-86). After being eliminated by the 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127), target prices were restored by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 101-171, Sec. 1104). Target price deficiency payments are renamed counter-cyclical payments by this law. Target prices apply to only the covered commodities of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, rice, soybeans, and other oilseeds. Prior to 1996, farmers received deficiency payments based on the difference between the target price and the higher of the national market price during a specified time period, or the nonrecourse loan rate. Under the 2002 farm bill, the counter-cyclical payment rate is the difference between the target price and the season average market price, but only down to the loan rate plus the direct payment rate.
Targeted Export Assistance Program (TEA) — A program authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-198) to assist U.S. producer groups in promoting exports of products adversely affected by foreign governments' unfair trade practices. TEA is the predecessor of the Market Promotion Program (MPP), which was succeeded by the Market Access Program (MAP) in 1996. www.fas.usda.gov/mos/programs/mapprog.html.
Targeting — A policy concept under which government farm program benefits would be directed toward specified groups of producers. One example of targeting might be to focus farm payments on small to medium-sized family owned and operated farms. Some policy makers have argued for tighter per person payment limits as a mechanism to target smaller farms.
Tariff Act of 1930 — P.L. 71-361, also known as the Smoot-Hawley Act, raised U.S. import tariffs to their highest levels in history, prompting U.S. trading partners to adopt their own retaliatory trade barriers and exacerbating the Great Depression. Ensuing laws have virtually eliminated the Act's most onerous provisions, yet it remains as permanent authority and a vehicle for trade legislation.
Tariff schedule — A list or schedule of duties imposed in the conduct of international trade. The Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS) lists the items on which the United States levies a duty (or tariff) and/or imposes an import or tariff-rate quota. A specific duty, and/or quota amount, is assigned to each item on the schedule.
Tariff — A tariff is a list or schedule of taxes, while a duty is the tax imposed on a specific item. However, the terms duty and tariff have come to be used interchangeably. In international trade, these taxes must be paid to a government on selected imported or sometimes exported goods. The Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS) lists the items on which the United States levies duties. Tariffs may be protective of domestic producers (keeping domestic prices higher than world prices) or serve as revenue generators for the government. Tariffs are considered transparent trade barriers in contrast to several nontariff barriers. The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture requires conversion of nontariff barriers to bound tariffs. See Ad valorem duty, Preferential tariff, Specific rate duty, Tariff-rate quota, Applied tariff.
Tariff-rate quota — A trade policy tool used to protect a domestically-produced commodity or product from competitive imports. A tariff-rate quota (TRQ) combines two policy instruments that nations historically have used to restrict such imports: quotas and tariffs. In a TRQ, the quota component works together with a specified tariff level to provide the desired degree of import protection. Imports entering during a specific time period under the quota portion of a TRQ are usually subject to a lower, or sometimes a zero, tariff rate. Imports above the quota's quantitative threshold face a much higher (usually prohibitive) tariff. Currently, TRQs apply to U.S. imports of certain dairy products, beef, cotton, green olives, peanuts, peanut butter, sugar, certain sugar-containing products, and tobacco.
Tariffication — The conversion of nontariff barriers to tariffs or tariff-rate quotas.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) — Tax increment financing is an economic development tool that cities, smaller rural areas, and some regions have found promising. TIC relies on a reallocation of property tax revenues from a taxing authority's general fund to a new jurisdiction named a TIF district. TIF allows a city or community to designate an area for improvement and then earmark any future growth in property tax revenues to pay for the initial and ongoing economic development expenditures. Once an area becomes eligible for TIF, the initial assessed property valuation is held constant for a fixed number of years, e.g., 20 or more. The TIF authority uses its powers of land assembly and sale, site clearance, relocation, utility installation and street repair to improve the district and offer subsidized financing to make it more attractive to businesses and developers. As new businesses and other investments are attracted to the area, the assessed value of property and its taxes are expected to rise. The difference between the base value and new assessed value is the "tax increment." Instead of channeling the increment to the local government's general fund and to other taxing bodies with jurisdiction over the area, these funds are channeled to the TIF authority and used to finance any debt the authority accumulated when making improvements. Any increase in the assessed property values of the TIF district over the next years will go into a separate fund and will pay for TIF activities, while taxes on the base value of the properties will remain the same and will continue to be paid to the local taxing bodies.
Taylor Grazing Act (TGA) of 1934 — P.L. 73-482 provides for the regulation of grazing on the public lands (excluding Alaska) to improve rangeland conditions and regulate their use. The law initially permitted 80 million acres of previously unreserved public lands of the United States to be placed into grazing districts to be administered by the Department of the Interior. As amended, the law now sets no limit on the amount of lands in grazing districts. There are currently approximately 162 million acres inside grazing allotments.
TCDD — Dioxin.
TCK smut — A disease of soft white and hard red winter wheats caused by a fungus (Tilletia controversa Kuhn) that stunts plant growth and leaves smut balls in the grain head. When milled, the balls emit a fishy odor that lowers the quality of the flour. TCK smut exists in the western and northwestern states, but is not considered a major problem. The disease took on policy significance because China applied a zero tolerance on the presence of TCK spores, resulting in a ban from 1974 to 1999 on shipments from the Pacific Northwest. Until the summer of 1996, China accepted shipments of U.S. wheat from the Gulf Coast, and negotiated price discounts with the shippers to cover the cost of decontamination if traces of TCK were found. Then in June 1996, China rejected all cargoes of U.S. wheat with traces of TCK. The November 1999 U.S.-China Agricultural Cooperation Agreement removes the ban and allows imports of U.S. wheat and other grains that meet a specific TCK tolerance level, thus improving the competitiveness of U.S. wheat with Canadian and Australian exports.
TEA — Targeted Export Assistance Program.
TEAFAP — See Emergency Food Assistance Act, Emergency Food Assistance program.
Team Nutrition — This federally funded initiative provides grants to states for school food service training projects aimed at ensuring that meals served by schools and other federally assisted providers meet dietary guidelines. It also funds the development and distribution of training materials related to improved nutrition for children. www.fns.usda.gov/tn.
Technical assistance provider — See Third party provider.
Technical assistance — Section 11 of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act (P.L. 80-806) was amended by the 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127, Sec. 162)to limit funding for technical assistance, causing some difficulties for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to both fully support mandatory conservation programs and carry out other technical assistance responsibilities. The 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 2701) seeks to lift these limitations generally, and provisions with each conservation program seek to provide funding for any technical assistance needed to implement that program.
Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops — The 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 3205) requires use of $2 million annually in Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) resources for resolving sanitary and phytosanitary and related barriers to exports of U.S. specialty crops. CCC resources are to go for public and private projects and for technical assistance.
Technical barriers to trade (TBTs) — A category of nontariff barriers to trade, TBTs are the widely divergent measures that countries use to regulate markets, protect their consumers, or preserve their natural resources (among other objectives), but they also can be used (or perceived by foreign countries) to discriminate against imports in order to protect domestic industries. TBTs with the greatest impact on agriculture are the various sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures designed to protect humans, animals, and plants, from diseases, pests, and other contaminants. Examples of TBTs, other than SPS measures, are rules for product weight, size, or packaging; ingredient or identity standards; mandatory labeling; shelf-life restrictions; and import testing and certification procedures. The broad phrase technical barriers to trade is frequently applied to all of these types of measures, even where they might be legitimate and consistent with bilateral or multilateral trading rules. The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade gives rules for the use of such barriers. However, trade experts widely view TBTs as having great potential for being misused by importing countries as nontransparent (disguised or unclear) obstacles to trade. (See Transparency.).
Technical Service Providers — Another name for Third Party Providers (Vendors).
TEFAP — Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program.
TEGMA — Transportation, Elevator and Grain Merchants Association.
Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) — A program that evolved out of surplus commodity donation efforts begun by the USDA in late 1981 to dispose of surplus foods (especially cheese) held by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). This program was explicitly authorized by the Congress in 1983 when funding was provided to assist states with the costs involved in storing and distributing the commodities. The program originally was entitled the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program when authorized under the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (P.L. 98-8). The word temporary was dropped from statute and program title in the 1990 farm bill (P.L. 101-624). The acronym EFAP now is used for this program (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.).
Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (TEFAA) — P.L. 98-8 was a supplemental appropriations act for FY1983 that among other things explicitly authorized a discretionary commodity donation effort begun in 1981 by the USDA. The initial effort was limited to disposal of excess commodities held by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) by donating them to states. This law also authorized funding to help states and local emergency feeding organizations with the storage and distribution costs of handling the commodities. This is the origin of the current Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (P.L. 98-92, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.).
Tender — As a verb, tender announces the intention of delivering a notice or an actual commodity (i.e., XYZ Grain Growers, Inc., tenders six cars to North Pacific at the time of shipment for application on an open sales contract). As a noun, tender normally denotes a notice of an intent to buy. The tender usually spells out in detail quantities to be purchased, desired quality, time of shipment, country of origin, and all inspection, weighing, and payment terms. Overseas buyers usually issue tenders to ensure the maximum competition for a given piece of business. Also, the action of receiving offers, determining the best one, deciding whether, and how much, to buy, and announcing the awards of contracts. Ordinarily, a buyer reserves the right to reject any or all of the offers submitted.
Teratogen — A chemical that causes nonhereditary birth defects in a developing fetus. Teratogencity is taken into account in assessing the toxicity of pesticides and other chemicals. Both level and timing of exposure to teratogens determine health effects.
Terminal dwell time — The time loaded railcars spend in a terminal awaiting continued movement.
Terminal elevator — A large elevator (warehouse) facility with the capacity to transfer grain to rail cars, barges, or ships for transport to domestic or foreign markets. Terminal elevator markets are used as base locations for posted county prices.
Terminal market — A central site, often in a metropolitan area, that serves as an assembly and trading place for agricultural commodities. Terminal markets are usually at or near major transportation hubs.
Terminator gene — A genetic use restriction technology (GURT) that prevents the germination of seeds produced by a transgenic plant. GURTs also can be used as a means of intellectual property protection. See Terminator seeds.
Terminator seeds — A descriptive term for seeds that have been genetically engineered to produce a crop whose first generation produces sterile seeds, thus preventing a second generation from being grown from seeds saved from the first. This technology was developed under a cooperative research and development agreement between the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and a private seed company. Supporters of the technology state that it is a way to build patent protection directly into high-value, genetically engineered crop varieties and thus recoup high research investment costs. Opponents maintain that the technology unfairly disadvantages farmers in developing countries who rely on saved seed for replanting and for developing locally adapted varieties, and also has potentially harmful environmental and public health effects.
Terrace — An embankment, ridge, or leveled strip constructed across sloping soils on the contour, or at right angle to the slope. The terrace intercepts surface runoff so that it can soak into the soil or flow slowly to a prepared outlet, decreasing rates of soil erosion.
Test and hold — A new requirement that federal meat inspectors not apply the "inspected and passed" mark on the carcasses of cattle that have been sampled by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for its BSE surveillance program until the sample is determined to be negative (69 FR 1892, January 12, 2004). Formerly, unless prohibited by a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) veterinary medical officer, carcasses of BSE-sampled animals were allowed to be stamped inspected and passed, and packing plants were allowed to process them for human food before the sample results were received.
Test weight — The average weight of a cereal as measured in pounds per bushel (1bu. = 8 gallons or 2150.42 cu. inches). Test weight is an important predictor of milling yield for rice and flour extraction rate for wheat. USDA's official weight per bushel for the highest grade for major cereals and oilseeds include: wheat and soybeans (60 lbs./bu.); corn, sorghum, and rye (56 lbs./bu.); barley (48 lbs./bu.); oats (32 lbs./bu.); and rice (45 lbs./bu.). When producers deliver grain that is significantly below the official weights the prices are discounted. Official U.S. Grain Standards (developed and used under authority of the United States Grain Standards Act, USGSA) include test weight criteria.
TFP — Thrifty Food Plan.
Third country dumping — A situation in which exports of a product from one country are being injured or threatened with injury because of exports of the same product from a second country into a third country at less than fair value. Section 1318 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-418) establishes procedures for U.S. industries to petition the U.S. Trade Representative to request a foreign government that is a signatory to the GATT Anti-Dumping Code to initiate an antidumping investigation on behalf of a U.S. industry that claims it is being injured by dumping in that country's market.
Third party providers (vendors) — Provisions in the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 2701) require the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to create a certification program to approve non-USDA experts to provide technical assistance to landowners for federal conservation programs, and a process to reimburse the vendors through USDA. Also known as technical service providers.
Threatened species — Species listed by regulation under ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and are generally given a lower level of protection than endangered species.
Three entity rule — Federal law currently sets an annual cap on the amount of payments that a person may receive from the major farm programs. A provision in this law permits a person to receive payments up to the full cap on the first farm in which the person has a substantial beneficial interest, and up to half the full cap on each of two additional farms; hence the so-called three-entity rule.
Threshold price — Used in agricultural policy, particularly in the EU Common Agricultural Policy, to denote a minimum price for a commodity or product.
Threshold — In toxicology, the lowest non-zero dose of a chemical at which a specified measurable effect occurs. Sometimes used to refer to the income level above which an applicant for food stamp benefits would be ineligible.
Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) — The USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion publishes four food plans specifying food items (and their costs) that provide a nutritionally adequate diet. The cheapest (priced monthly) is the Thrifty Food Plan. This plan is used as the basis for food stamp benefits.
Tier II sugar — See Second-tier Mexican sugar. Sometimes referred to as high-tier sugar.
Timber sale — A contract for the sale of federal timber to a private purchaser with the right to cut and remove trees for an agreed-upon stumpage price; the contract includes an estimated volume of wood and an appraised stumpage price, which is the basis for competitive bidding by purchasers.
Timberland Suitability — Refers to national forest land where timber harvesting is feasible , based on biological and economic factors, and is allowed on a regulated and sustained basis under forest plans developed by the Forest Service.
Timberland — Forestland that can grow annually a minimum amount of wood (20 cubic feet per acre per year) that can be used to produce commercial wood products; excludes lands where timber cutting is prohibited by law or by executive decision.
TMDL — Total maximum daily load.
Tobacco Price Support Program — The tobacco price support program used a combination of marketing quotas and nonrecourse loans to keep prices stable and higher than they would be otherwise. The tobacco quota limited production in order to raise prices. Nonrecourse loans allowed producers to hold tobacco stocks for long periods in order to balance supplies with market demand conditions. By law after 1982, tobacco loan program operations were required to function at no net cost to taxpayers (P.L. 97-218). A no net cost assessment was collected on all leaf tobacco sold to build a reserve fund that reimbursed the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for any losses of loan principal and interest. Adoption of the tobacco quota buyout in P.L. 108-357, Title VI, ended also the price support program for the 2005 crop and subsequent years.
Tobacco quota — Poundage quotas (and in some cases acreage allotments) were a supply control feature of federal price support for tobacco. Burley tobacco was subject to marketing quotas and flue-cured tobacco was subject to marketing quotas and acreage allotments. Tobacco quota owners (owners of farmland to which quota is assigned) voted every three years on whether or not to continue with price support (through no-net-cost loans) and marketing quotas. Producers of several minor tobaccos (including Maryland (type 32), Pennsylvania cigar-filler (type 41), and Connecticut Valley cigar-binder (types 51-52)) had disapproved federal support. The national marketing quota (basic quota) was calculated according to a formula specified by law that included consideration of intended purchases by domestic manufacturers, average exports over the preceding three years, and reserve stock requirements. The effective quota was the basic quota plus and minus temporary adjustments for allowable previous year under and over marketings. The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-357, Title VI) ended tobacco quotas for 2005 crop and subsequent years.
Tobacco Settlement Agreement — The tobacco settlement agreement, officially known as the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), is an accord reached in 1998 between the state Attorneys General of 46 states, five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia and America's major tobacco companies concerning the advertising, marketing and promotion of tobacco products. Payments by the tobacco companies to the states amount to over $206 billion over 25 years. As a followup, but separate from the MSA, the tobacco companies agreed in 1999 to pay 14 tobacco producing states $5.15 billion over 12 years to offset the adverse economic on farmers and rural communities of the MSA. This is called Phase II of the tobacco settlement.
Tolerance fees — The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requires EPA to collect fees to cover the costs of administering the tolerance-setting program. (Sec. 408(m); 21 U.S.C. 6a). This authority has existed since 1954 (P.L. 83-518), but the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 (P.L. 104-170) directed EPA to deposit tolerance fees collected into the Reregistration and Expedited Processing Fund until they are needed to process tolerances. The FQPA also directed the Agency to review all tolerances set prior to 1996 to ensure that they are consistent with the safe standard set by the FQPA.
Tolerance — The maximum pesticide residue level allowed on or in food or animal feed. Tolerances are set by EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA; 21 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA; P.L. 104-170). Tolerances must be set at a level that is safe, which Congress defined to mean there will be a "reasonable certainty of no harm" from all pesticide exposures. A tolerance must be established before a pesticide can be registered (or reregistered) for use on a food crop.
Total maximum daily load (TMDL) — An identification of the total amount of a specific pollutant or the property of a pollutant from all sources (point sources, nonpoint sources, and background sources) and including a margin of safety, that may be discharged into a water body while insuring that water body attains water quality standards. Most water bodies are affected by multiple pollutants. The TMDL program, authorized in the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251-1387), is administered by states, which may require industries, cities, and farmers, and others to use new pollution controls to meet requirements. TMDL program impacts on agricultural and other nonpoint source discharges have been controversial.
Total support estimate (TSE) — OECD indicator of the annual monetary value of all gross transfers from taxpayers and consumers arising from policy measures that support agriculture, net of the associated budgetary receipts, regardless of their objectives and impacts on farm production and income, or consumption of farm products. The TSE can be expressed in monetary terms or as a percentage of the gross domestic product. In addition to the TSE, other measures used to compare levels of support to agriculture across counties include the producer support estimate (PSE), consumer support estimate (CSE), and general services support estimate (GSSE).
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 — P.L. 94-469, as amended, authorizes the EPA to regulate toxic substances (any chemical that may present a risk of unreasonable harm to man or the environment). By definition, however, the Act excludes from EPA regulation under TSCA certain substances (15 U.S.C. 2601), including pesticides (as defined by and regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.)), tobacco or tobacco products, and any food or food additive (as defined by and regulated under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.), the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031 et seq.), or the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321 et seq.)).
TPRG — Trade Policy Review Group.
Traceability — The ability to identify and track a food or feed commodity from point of purchase or consumption back, through all stages of production and marketing, to its origins on the farm. Traceability arises as an issue in a number of regulatory initiatives, such as the labeling and tracking of biotechnology-derived products (particularly in the European Union); country of origin (for which more stringent labeling of meats and produce was mandated by the 2002 U.S. farm bill); and food safety (so that food-related disease outbreaks could be traced to their source).
Traceback — See Animal identification and traceback.
Trackage rights — Rights obtained (for a fee) by one railroad to operate its trains over the tracks of another railroad.
Trade Act of 1974 — P.L. 93-618 provided the President with tariff and nontariff trade barrier negotiating authority for the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations. It also gave the President broad authority to counteract injurious and unfair foreign trade practices. Section 201 of the Act requires the International Trade Commission to investigate petitions filed by domestic industries or workers claiming injury or threat of injury due to expanding imports. Investigations must be completed within 6 months. If such injury is found, restrictive measures may be implemented. Action under Section 201 is allowed under the GATT escape clause, GATT Article XIX. Section 301 was designed to eliminate unfair foreign trade practices that adversely affect U.S. trade and investment in both goods and services. Under Section 301, the President must determine whether the alleged practices are unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. If the President determines that action is necessary, the law directs that all appropriate and feasible action within the President's power should be taken to secure the elimination of the practice.
Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers — Created in 2002 by wide-ranging trade legislation (P.L. 107-210, Sec. 141), the program authorizes the expenditure of up to $90 million per year through FY2007. Under the program, certain agricultural producers can each receive payments of up to $10,000 per year if price declines for their commodity were at least partly caused by imports. To be eligible for such assistance, such producers must be members of certified groups and meet a number of criteria specified by the law. The program is administered by the USDA.
Trade Agreements Act of 1979 — P.L. 96-39 provided the implementing legislation for the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade agreements in such areas as customs valuation, standards, subsidies, and government procurement.
Trade-weighted average tariff — The average of a country's tariffs, weighted by value of imports. This trade-weighted tariff is calculated as the ratio of total tariff revenue to total value of imports. The weighting process ensures that tariffs affecting substantial quantities of trade count more than tariffs affecting little or not trade. However, because high tariffs tend to discourage imports and therefore lower the weights of those tariffs in the calculation, trade-weighted averages tend to understate the significance of countries' tariff protection.
Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 — P.L. 98-573 clarified the conditions under which unfair trade cases under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-618) can be pursued. It also provided bilateral trade negotiating authority for the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, and set out procedures to be followed for congressional approval of future bilateral trade agreements.
Trade barriers — Laws, regulations, policies that protect domestic products from foreign competition or artificially stimulate exports of domestic products. The USTR classifies trade barriers into eight categories: (1) Import policies (tariffs and other import charges, quantitative restrictions, import licensing, and customs barriers); (2) standards, testing, labeling, and certification; (3) government procurement; (4) export subsidies; (5) lack of intellectual property protection; (6) service barriers; and, (7) investment barriers. USTR's annual National Trade Estimates Report catalogs trade barriers applied by foreign countries to U.S. products.
Trade creation — Increases in trade and the more efficient production of goods resulting from the removal of trade barriers.
Trade diversion — A shift in production and trade from a relatively efficient country to a relatively inefficient country, caused by the latter's participation in a preferential trade agreement.
Trade liberalization — With respect to agricultural trade, trade liberalization means expanding market access, reducing and/or eliminating agricultural export subsidies, and reducing or eliminating trade-distorting domestic farm subsidies. Trade liberalization so defined is the overarching aim of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), the current round of multilateral trade negotiations.
Trade Policy Committee — The TPC is the senior U.S. Government interagency trade committee established to provide broad guidance on trade issues. It is chaired by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and is comprised of other cabinet officers, including the Secretary of Agriculture. The Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG) that reports to the TPC is chaired by the Deputy USTR and is comprised of sub-cabinet representatives, including the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Services and Foreign Agriculture. The Trade Policy Staff Committee, the level at which position papers are initiated, is chaired by a Deputy Assistant USTR and has representation from other cabinet departments including USDA.
Trade promotion authority (TPA) — Statutory authority for the President to negotiate trade agreements, with expedited procedures for legislation to implement those agreements. This authority is sometimes referred to as fast-track authority. The most recent TPA applies to agreements entered into before July 1, 2005, but there is a mechanism to extend it 2 additional years. TPA was part of a wide-ranging trade bill (H.R. 3009) signed into law (P.L. 107-210) on August 6, 2002. TPA is intended to facilitate the negotiation of numerous bilateral free trade agreements, a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), and agreements reached through the World Trade Organization. Many agricultural and food industry groups have been among the export-oriented interests in support of TPA, anticipating that its use will lead to new trade agreements opening and expanding markets throughout the world. Some farm groups disagree, contending that past agreements have not yielded the benefits that supporters had promised.
Trade relief; trade remedy — Statutorily-prescribed procedures intended to assist U.S. industries, including agricultural producers, deemed to be injured by imports or unfair trade practices. Currently, for example, federal law provides for three primary remedies that producers can pursue to seek relief from imports: safeguards (which can be temporary duties, quotas, or import restrictions), countervailing duties, and anti-dumping duties.
Transfer of development rights (TDR) — Property rights that may not be used on the land from which they were derived. Usually they are sold from areas where uses are restricted, such as active agricultural areas, to receiving or growth areas where development is being encouraged.
Transgenic crop — A crop modified to exhibit desired traits by inserting genetic material from another organism. Recombinant DNA techniques (DNA formed by combining segments of DNA from different organisms) are usually used.
Transition Yields, or T-yields — When a producer participating in the federal crop insurance program does not have at least four years of actual production history, the insurer can offer coverage based on a countywide 10-year average of production yields, or transition yields, as determined by USDA.
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) — The name of a number of degenerative brain diseases that infect humans and animals. For example, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infects cattle; scrapie infects sheep and goats; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) infects humans.
Transparency — A World Trade Organization principle stipulating that a country's policies and regulations affecting foreign trade should be clearly communicated to its trading partners. For example, out of recognition that sanitary and phytosanitary measures may (sometimes deliberately) be unclear, arbitrary, or capricious, recent international trading agreements have provisions calling on countries to notify others, in advance, about any measures that could affect trade, to fully explain them, and to provide a means for commenting on them.
Transshipment — A cargo moved from its originating country through one or more intermediary countries before reaching its final destination country. U.S. agricultural import and export statistics usually can be adjusted to account for such movements. The term transshipment also can refer to a cargo that is transferred from one mode of transport to another (e.g., a cargo of produce that arrives by ship and is moved inland by truck).
Tree Assistance Program (TAP) — The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides financial assistance to orchard growers to help them replant eligible trees, bushes, and vines that have been damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster. A grower who loses more than 15% of eligible trees to a natural disaster can be reimbursed for 75% of the cost of replanting eligible losses. Payments are limited to 500 acres and no more than $75,000 per person. The program had been funded on an ad-hoc basis in several years between 1992 and 1998 for eligible growers anywhere in the country. TAP was permanently authorized by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171), subject to annual appropriations. FY2004 appropriations were made for specific state losses: $12.5 million for California wildfires, $9.7 million for Michigan fire blight (a bacterial disease), and $5 million for an April 2003 ice storm in New York. The FY2005 supplemental appropriations measure attached to the Military Construction Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-324) fully funded TAP for any tree losses occurring between December 1, 2003, and December 31, 2004, at an estimated cost of $35 million.
Tree measurement sales — A timber sale where purchasers pay the total bid value (the estimated timber volume times the stumpage price) regardless of the volume of timber actually removed. Compare with scaled sales.
Trickle irrigation / drip irrigation — An irrigation method in which water drips to the soil from perforated tubes or emitters. This irrigation technology is water conserving compared to flooding, furrows, and sprinklers.
Trigger price — A threshold price that triggers benefits. Under the 2002 farm bill commodity program provisions, counter-cyclical payments are made when the "effective price" is lower than the target price specified by law for each covered commodity. In this case the target price is considered to be a trigger price. Other trigger prices specified in the 2002 farm bill exist for loan deficiency payments, cotton user marketing certificates, milk income loss contract (MILC) payments, and nonrecourse sugar loans.
Triple base plan — Also called the flexible base plan. A proposal under which farmers who raise program crops would receive program payments only on a certain percentage of their permitted acreage. A producer participating in a federal price support program actually would have three categories of base acres for program purposes: 1) permitted acres on which deficiency payments would be made; 2) permitted acres on which no federal payments would be made, but could be planted to other crops, either specified or unspecified; 3) idled acres (those required to be set aside under acreage reduction rules) where no crops other than those for conservation could be planted. Triple base is another name for what came to be known as normal flex acres. Production flexibility contracts under the 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127) and the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) agreements under the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 101-171, Sec. 1101-1108) eliminated the linkage between direct payments and actual plantings.
TRIPS — Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
Triticale — A genetic cross between wheat and rye. Triticale was developed more than a century ago by crossing wheat with rye in hopes of creating a food grain with good baking qualities. Although the acceptance of triticale has been slow, it's a good source of protein and B vitamins. Triticale has enough gluten to be used as a bread flour. It has a nut-like flavor that is richer than wheat but not as strong as rye. Under the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 101-171, Sec. 1206), triticale that is grazed instead of harvested is eligible for "payments in lieu of LDPs" at the same rates as wheat, even though it is not eligible for marketing assistance loans or LDPs when harvested as grain.
TRQ — Tariff-rate quota.
TSCA — Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
TSE — Total support estimate.
TSEs — Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
TSRA or TSREEA — Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386). See Embargo.
Two-tiered pricing — A farm program system under which commodities grown for domestic use are supported at one level and those grown for export markets at another, lower level. The peanut price support program, until policy changes made by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 101-171, Sec. 1301-1310), used a two-tiered pricing system with a higher level of support for "quota peanuts" that could be sold domestically as edible peanuts and a lower level of support for "additional peanuts" that only could be exported or crushed if that stayed in the United States.