Ag Trade: Groups Seek Federal Intervention Against Unfair Ocean Carriers
Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA), on their website, recently wrote that, “For more than six months, U.S. ag exporters, including SSGA members who supply Identity Preserved (IP) soya and specialty grains for food manufacture, have suffered under unreasonable practices by ocean carriers.
“These practices include the declining of U.S. agricultural and other exports in favor of sending empty containers back overseas in order to keep up with the massive demand for consumer imports.”
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Ambassador Tai Talks Trade With Ag Groups
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually Monday with U.S. agriculture organizations to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s trade agenda and to hear from the organization’s on specific trade priorities.
Meetings were held with the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, National Potato Council, National Milk Producers Federation and the Northwest Horticultural Council. The Ambassador expressed her desire to support U.S. agriculture producers in a worker-centered trade policy and she committed to staying in close communication, according to a readout from USTR.
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Ag Groups Send Climate Letter To Trade Ambassador
Agriculture organizations sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai highlighting the great strides the U.S. ag industry has made toward environmental sustainability and climate goals and stressing the importance of voluntary, market and incentive-based policies to help rural economies better adapt to climate change.
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Rice Market: EU Bans Propiconazole, Potential Trade Implications
Rice shipments, like many other food exports, are becoming increasingly subject to inappropriately low, precautionary maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by overseas markets. Among the shipments most impacted are those bound for the European Union (EU) which considers only the potential hazards associated with the use of inputs and ignores the various risk mitigations required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that ensure those inputs can be used safely.
On February 9, 2021, the EU Commission quietly issued Regulation 2021/155, a move that makes detection of the chemical propiconazole in any food or imported food into the European Union illegal, beginning on September 2, 2021.
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US Trade Policy in Transition: What You Need to Know
President Biden has set out a sweeping trade agenda designed to restore the U.S. economy, U.S. leadership and U.S. partnerships. A legacy of unilateral action and global tariffs, however, will take time to moderate and require due consideration of the global economic reality, as well as a political balancing act. View the Biden Administration’s full trade agenda. This article discusses what you need to consider right now.
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AG Trade Can Mitigate Economic Impacts of Climate Change
Agricultural producers deal firsthand with changing weather conditions, and extreme events such as drought or flooding can impact their productivity and profit. Climate change models project such events will occur more often in the future. But studies of the economic consequences of weather and climate on agriculture typically focus on local impacts only.
A new study from the University of Illinois looks at how changes in weather — including extreme events — may decrease crop profit in one state while increasing profits in other states. The secret ingredient: U.S. interstate trade. It is expected to mitigate the economic impact of climate change by up to $14.5 billion by the middle of the century.
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Uncertainty Remains For Ag Trade Issues
COVID-19 relief legislation took top priority for the Biden Administration’s first two months, but as stimulus programs begin to take effect President Biden and Congress will turn to other issues.
Trade could be a key topic for U.S. agriculture. How will the new administration and a power change in Congress affect trade deals?
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For US Farmers, China Is Back And Bigger Than Ever
China is once again the U.S.’s chief customer for agricultural goods, three years after the start of a bruising trade war that prompted American farmers to try to wean themselves off their biggest market.
Following a cease-fire between the world’s two largest economies last year, U.S. farmers are shipping record volumes of crops and meat across the Pacific. The surging agricultural exports are helping power a turnaround in the U.S. farm economy, lifting commodity prices and profits for agribusinesses, and fueling expectations that farmers will devote more land than ever for some crops.
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China Phase One Deal Under Review
The Biden administration will review all national security measures put in place by former President Donald Trump, including the U.S.-China phase one trade deal signed January 2020, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki made in comments Friday.
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Farmers for Free Trade Are Hopeful for Change in Trade Policies
Farmers for Free Trade says that it does not expect the administration to immediately lift tariffs but members are hopeful to see a gradual thaw of some of the global relationships over the next couple of years. The group is also advocating for a return of side stepped agreements.
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