Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) received a $416,577 project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), effective May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2029. The project addresses gaps in understanding how environmental nontariff measures (NTMs) affecting agricultural trade impact U.S. agricultural competitiveness and global trade flows. Virginia Tech will deliver three primary products: (1) a comprehensive database of environmental NTMs compiled from multiple authoritative sources including the World Trade Organization's Environmental Database, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary notifications, Specific Trade Concerns databases, and the U.S. Trade Representative's National Trade Estimate reports; (2) quantitative analysis of trade impacts and identification of trade opportunities and challenges these measures create for U.S. agriculture; and (3) dissemination of the database through an open-source platform to enable collaborative research and innovation.

The project will enhance understanding of environment-related trade policy shocks on U.S. and global agricultural trade flows, thereby improving the long-term profitability and competitiveness of U.S. agri-food systems. The research aligns with AFRI's focus on agricultural economics and rural communities, supporting informed policy decisions and evidence-based strategies for navigating increasingly complex environmental trade barriers in global agricultural markets. The open-source platform will facilitate ongoing research collaboration and knowledge dissemination across the agricultural economics research community.