2026 America First Trade Promotion Program | USDA FAS AFTPP 2026

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS AFTPP 2026

The 2026 America First Trade Promotion Program (AFTPP) is a competitive grant program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) to help expand exports of U.S. agricultural commodities. The basic structure is cost-sharing: USDA/FAS enters into agreements with selected participants and shares the cost of eligible marketing and promotion activities designed to increase overseas demand and sales. The program is intended to support a wide mix of commodities, and USDA/FAS aims to fund a broad array of agricultural products rather than concentrating awards in only a few sectors.

Nearly all U.S. agricultural commodities can be proposed under this opportunity, with one clear exclusion: tobacco is not eligible. The program is focused on export development, so proposed activities should be tied to tangible trade promotion outcomes in foreign markets, such as building buyer relationships, improving market access awareness, and generating increased export sales for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and producers.

Eligibility is limited to specific types of U.S.-based organizations. Applicants must be one of the following: a nonprofit U.S. agricultural trade organization that promotes the export and sale of one or more U.S. agricultural commodities, an SRTG (State Regional Trade Group), a U.S. agricultural cooperative, or a U.S. state agency. The listing labels eligibility broadly as "Others," but the narrative eligibility language is specific to these organization categories, so applicants should align their legal structure and mission clearly to one of them.

USDA/FAS is explicitly encouraging two kinds of applicants. First, organizations that have never participated in a USDA market development program are encouraged to apply, which signals interest in bringing new groups into federal export promotion efforts. Second, organizations that are traditional recipients of USDA market development support are encouraged to use AFTPP to propose new and innovative activities, especially in non-traditional markets. A key review nuance is that if an organization is already operating trade promotion activities with USDA funding in the same target market for the same promoted commodity, it cannot receive full points under the "Innovation and Originality" portion of the review criteria. In practical terms, applicants who are already active in a market with existing USDA-backed programming will want to differentiate their AFTPP proposal clearly (new approaches, new channels, new audiences, or meaningfully different market tactics) and should not assume they will score as highly on innovation if the proposal resembles ongoing USDA-funded work in that market.

Administratively, the program is strict about federal registration requirements. Every applicant must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) before the application submission deadline. If the SAM registration is inactive, expired, pending, or the applicant is excluded, the application will be considered ineligible. The announcement emphasizes there will be no exceptions, waivers, or deadline extensions for SAM-related issues, so maintaining an active SAM status well ahead of the deadline is a make-or-break requirement.

In terms of the official opportunity details, the funding opportunity title is "2026 America First Trade Promotion Program" and the funding opportunity number is "USDA FAS AFTPP 2026." It is a discretionary grant opportunity in the agriculture funding activity category, listed under CFDA 10.618 and administered by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. The opportunity was created on 2025-11-20, and the original closing date is 2026-01-23. The listing anticipates around 60 awards. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided source data, which usually means applicants will need to consult the full announcement for any per-award maximums, cost-share expectations, activity caps, or other budget constraints that may apply.

Overall, AFTPP is designed for organizations that can credibly run export-focused marketing and promotion campaigns and can show how cost-shared activities will lead to expanded foreign demand for U.S. agricultural commodities. Competitive proposals will typically be those that clearly define target markets and audiences, lay out specific promotion tactics, demonstrate why the approach is new or meaningfully different (especially if the applicant already has USDA-funded work in that market), and show a realistic pathway from promotion activities to measurable export growth outcomes, all while meeting the strict SAM.gov eligibility requirement by the submission deadline.

• The Foreign Agricultural Service in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2026 America First Trade Promotion Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.618.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-11-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-01-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 60 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA FAS AFTPP 2026

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: