AFIA Congratulates President-elect Donald Trump for Election Victory

AFIA Congratulates President-elect Donald Trump for Election Victory

November 6, 2024

Contact Victoria Broehm

Key Points:

• AFIA congratulates former President Trump on re-election and thanks Vice President Harris and President Joe Biden for their public service, acknowledging the democratic process and the industry's role in it.

• Facing supply chain issues, outdated regulations and trade barriers, the animal food industry looks forward to working with a new administration and Congress on these challenges.

• AFIA will continue to seek bipartisan support for fair trade and economic growth, as the industry contributes significantly to the U.S. economy.

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) congratulates President-elect Donald Trump for winning the U.S. presidential election today, sending him to the White House for a second term in January 2025. AFIA President and Chief Executive Officer Constance Cullman issued the following statement following Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris's concession from the race.

"Yesterday, we were heartened to watch as millions of Americans, including many of the 80,000 hardworking employees across the animal food industry, took part in the U.S. democratic process, exercising their freedom to vote. Today, we congratulate President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory and bid thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris on her campaign and to both her and President Joe Biden for their service to our country.

"Our members are facing many pressing challenges, including supply chain issues that have driven up business costs, unscientific trade barriers and geopolitical tensions that continue to threaten global trade, outdated regulations that have not kept pace with animal nutrition science, and animal disease and environmental concerns. During the remaining days of this legislative session and into the next, it is important that we all work together to build business opportunities for the U.S. animal food industry and agricultural community.

"As an association that works with policymakers across both sides of the aisle, we stand ready to work with the Trump administration and officials elected to the 119th Congress to tackle these important issues."

The $267.1 billion total animal food industry supports a healthy U.S. economy, with an estimated $98.4 billion generated in value-added revenue (i.e., labor income, taxes on production and imports, and other property income), according to 2023 research. The industry employs roughly 760,000 full- and part-time and contract employees, paying out $55 billion in salaries and employee benefits annually. At the local, state and national levels, the industry filed roughly $18.5 billion in taxes in 2023.

The animal food industry is also critical to the success of U.S. agricultural trade. In 2023, the overall export value for feed, feed ingredients and pet food stood at $13.4 billion and the total volume of exports of these products stood at 19.8 million metric tons.

Read other key data and about AFIA's policy priorities in AFIA's state of the industry report.