USDA seeks cotton comeback
Dubbed the Great American Cotton Plan, the initiative includes four key pillars: encouraging consumers to choose products made with American cotton; ensuring the BioPreferred Program remains funded so biobased products, including cotton products, can continue using the BioPreferred label; implementing increased marketing loan rates for upland and extra-long staple cotton authorized through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act; and providing affordable cotton by increasing domestic demand and production.
The announcement comes as cotton producers face a fifth consecutive year of negative returns driven by rising input costs, trade distortions, and increasing competition from synthetic materials. As part of the plan, USDA will elevate the “Plant Not Plastic” initiative to encourage consumers to purchase products made with healthy natural American cotton fibers rather than synthetic plastic-based alternatives.
“The Trump Administration is committed to ensuring American cotton once again becomes the fiber of choice with the Great American Cotton Plan — a bold effort to restore profitability for cotton producers, strengthen rural economies, rebuild domestic textile manufacturing, and bring American cotton back into the products families use every day,” Rollins said in a press statement. “Supporting natural fibers like cotton also aligns with the Make America Healthy Again agenda as Americans grow increasingly concerned about microplastics and synthetic materials in everyday products. Cotton is natural, breathable, biodegradable, and proudly grown by American farmers — not manufactured from petroleum-based plastics that can shed microplastics into our soil, water, and bodies.”
Category: Chemicals & Materials
