Report: US, Israel sign ag trade agreement to subsidize US wheat imports 

Israel and the United States signed a new agricultural trade agreement late Tuesday, setting what officials described as a long-term framework to boost competition, lower food prices, and reinforce strategic ties between the two allies, The Jerusalem Post reported. 

Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat, who signed the agreement alongside U.S. Trade Commissioner Jamieson Greer, said the deal reflects both economic necessity and strategic alignment, the Post added. 

Israel will grant tariff exemptions to about 300 items in the U.S. food sector, including beef, poultry, dairy products, vegetables and fruits, but 28 items were exempted after protests from the Israeli agricultural lobby, Globes reported.

In exchange for protecting Israeli agriculture, Israel has pledged to subsidize transport of wheat purchases from the U.S., Globes said.

But Globes also explained, “This is a move that was strongly opposed by the [Israeli] Ministry of Finance, but it may have mainly symbolic value: American wheat is more expensive and of lower quality than that coming from other sources in Eastern Europe, and it is unclear to what extent the market will actually make use of this import from the U.S. The cost of the subsidy is estimated at tens of millions of shekels per year.”