Sen. Marshall, Colleagues Call on U.S. Ambassador to Iraq to Support U.S. Wheat Sales to Iraq

(Washington, D.C., August 23, 2021) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. led his colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller, asking to engage in the wheat tendering process and for the U.S. Department of State to offer additional assistance to the Iraqis to purchase U.S. wheat following their smaller than expected harvests.

Four Republican senators joined Senator Marshall in signing this letter, Senators John Boozman (AR), Jerry Moran (KS), John Cornyn (TX), and James Inhofe (OK), saying in part,

“The current wheat situation in Iraq is troublesome. Due to smaller than expected harvests, and subsequent lower than expected government procurement of local wheat, Iraq will need to import a substantial volume of wheat to continue to operate their primary subsidized feeding program, the Public Distribution System. That situation is made more dire by Iraqi’s current budget challenges and their lengthy tendering and inspection systems – from the time a tender is issued, it takes nearly 3 months for wheat to arrive in country. That means the Iraqis need to act now, to ensure their PDS has ample wheat available late this fall…The U.S. is generally the largest exporter of wheat to this market and a natural partner to supply wheat to Iraq in times of need. However, as you are well aware, wheat purchases by Iraq require multiple ministries working in tandem – which is where we are hopeful your outreach to them can be helpful. We are asking for support to help push the wheat tendering process along and for the State Department to offer additional assistance to the Iraqis to access the EXIM tools.”

The letter can be read in its entirety here.

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