The Trump administration will attack overseas regulations that restrict the export of GMO crops and other products resulting from American technological innovation, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the first meeting of a newly created interdepartmental task force on rural America. “We are going to bring cases at the WTO and other venues, we’re going to insist that any barrier be science-based, and the United States will increase exports,” he said.

For decades, U.S. policy has called for international trade rules to be based on fact rather than prejudice. The agribusiness community often points to science-based regulation as a way of removing obstacles to the export of genetically engineered crops. While dozens of reviews have maintained that GE crops are safe to eat, they still face significant public opposition in Europe and other places.

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President Trump’s executive order creating the task force directed it to look for legislative, regulatory, and policy changes that promote agriculture, including those that “advance the adoption of innovations and technology for agricultural production and long-term, sustainable rural development.” The order identified 13 areas for examination. First on the list is removing “barriers to economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America.” Second is the advancement of agricultural technology.