Alexis Taylor is Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs (TFAA) at the Unites States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In this role Alexis provides leadership for the Foreign Agricultural Service as the lead U.S. agency tasked with promoting exports of U.S. agricultural products through market intelligence, trade policy, trade capacity building, and trade promotion programs and the U.S. Codex Office. She works in her role to provide our farmers and ranchers with opportunities to compete in the global marketplace and helps lead the Department on trade policy and international agricultural issues domestically and abroad.

Alexis Taylor is an Iowa native, with a career focused on U.S. agricultural and trade policy.  Prior to her appointment as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Alexis was appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown as director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) in December 2016. As Director, she worked to promote and regulate agriculture and food, keeping the mission to ensure healthy natural resources, environment, and economy for Oregonians at the forefront.

Prior to Alexis' appointment in Oregon, she spent nearly 13 years in DC working to support U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace and foster global food security at both USDA and on Capitol Hill for Members of Congress from Montana and her home state of Iowa.

Alexis is a graduate of Iowa State University and grew up on her family farm in Iowa, which has been in her family for more than 160 years. While still in high school, she enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. During her junior​ year in college her army unit was deployed to Iraq, where she served one tour with the 389th Combat Engineer Battalion. While no longer an active reservist, Alexis continues to advocate for veterans.​​​​​