Friday Shorts
Non-Meat: In a first, a Europe-based company has sought EU approval to market lab-grown meat, in this case fake foie gras. Some member states have already banned such products. While lab-grown meat remains expensive, and plant-based meat substitutes have faced declining popularity, the increase...
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy; Africa Shines; Trade and the Environment
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy While trade policy analysts assess the future of their vocation under either a Trump or Harris presidency, there is not a lot of uncertainty. Mr. Trump has already advertised his intentions to raise tariffs. He views the U.S. trade deficit as the barometer of ho...
U.S. Policy Battle; WTO Policy Battle; EU Policy Battle
U.S. Policy Battle The two major parties are past the battle over President Biden’s age and should move on to the policy differences. Democrats will try to take their own problem of Biden’s age and apply it to Trump but it is likely to have less salience. Instead, the election will...
Weekend Reading Insights
Because the information superhighway is tl;dr, we did the work for you and summarized the most relevant. Economic Growth: It is not just the result of building tangible things but making use of new ideas. It is relentless technological progress. Economist Daniel Susskind Trade Flows: Water foll...
Biden Drops Out 107 Days Before Election: What Now?
The 2024 election cycle has been unique from the outset, and it just got more so with President Joe Biden opting to step aside. This came after more than three weeks of a crescendo of calls from within the Democrat party for the President to drop out of the race. The trigger was Biden’s d...
Doubling Down on Protectionism; Conflicting CAP Goals
Doubling Down on Protectionism Typically, the party platforms crafted every four years by Republicans and Democrats are equally meaningless. Some of their policy prescriptions become codified but many do not. But speakers at this week’s Republican Convention are leaving no doubt that &ldq...
No Olive Branch; Farm Price Charade
No Olive Branch In 2018, the U.S. began imposing 30-44 percent antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives originating in Spain. The EU was aghast since it implied that farm payments could be countervailed. Brussels challenged the duties in the WTO dispute settlement process and won. T...
Trump Picks JD Vance as Running Mate
On the eve of the Republican national nominating convention, Former President Trump has picked freshman Ohio Senator JD Vance, a one-time critic, to be his running mate. There is an element of generational balance; Vance is 39, Trump is 78. Ideologically, Vance who was endorsed by Trump in the...
Food Security Angst; More Trade Agreements; Ag Regains EU Power
Food Security Angst Norway announced that it would spend $6 million a year for five years to build up a 60–75-thousand-ton grain reserve, or a three-month supply. The head of the Olam agricultural trading warned of a potential future food war. Supply chains are fragile, countries are erec...
Farm Bill Reassessment; Von der Leyen Threads Needle; Trade Agreements are Dead
Farm Bill Reassessment The chance of reauthorizing the farm bill this year was already looking unlikely but now it has shifted that way for new reasons. A House Agriculture Committee approved bill pleased farm groups but faced a gauntlet from food assistance groups and others on the political l...
SCOTUS Regulatory Ruling Already Having Impact
On 5 July, WPI reported that the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the so-called “Chevron deference” whereby courts were to defer to agencies interpretations of ambiguous legislative intent, could have significant impacts on fede...
PRC GMO in USA; Food Aid Dependency; CFTC Musical Chairs
PRC GMO in USA Members of Congress on the House Select Committee on China are furious at USDA for moving forward with approval of a biotech soybean developed by China’s QiBiodesign. China has refused to approve for domestic planting GMO’s that have been develop by Western companies...
U.S. Talk Representative; EUDR Expansion; Hungary Tanks Innovation; Russia Bolsters CAP
U.S. Talk Representative The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that grants duty free access to products from poorer countries expired almost four years ago. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides similar nonreciprocal preferential access to the U.S. market but aimed...
Trade Barriers or Facilitation; Ag Rises in EU; Biden Regs
Trade Barriers or Facilitiation The WTO reported that its monitoring of various countries evidences that members are introducing more trade-facilitating policies than they are trade-restrictive measures. It only seems unreal because the trade restrictive practices receive more media attention...
Regulatory Agenda for 2024
The Administration has released its regulatory agenda for the rest of 2024. The agenda is a public notice process that details agencies’ work on proposed and upcoming regulations that will be put out for comment. In all, USDA has 109 regulations in the works, some significant and some les...
Capital Investment and Productivity
While much of the focus on Europe relates to political instability in the EU, and threats from Russia, there are ample economic issues that also need to be addressed. This is true in both industrial production and agricultural output. European farms continue to lag their American counterparts i...
Ag Appropriations Overview
Congress is back in session after the 4th of July Independence Day holiday break. But there are only 12 days on the legislative calendar for the month; there will be a break next week for the Republican nominating convention, and then Congress adjourns for the August recess on 2 August. Legisla...
New Paradigm for Regulatory Policy?
On 28 June, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (Secretary of Commerce) case, which could have significant impacts on federal regulatory policy moving forward as it overruled the so-called “Chevron deference” in place for the past 40 years...
Transatlantic Monopsonists; Ex-Im Battle Continues
Transatlantic Monopsonists The three coalition partners (EPP, S&D, Renew) set to continue running the EU cannot agree on a sustainability agenda since the Greens got trounced in recent elections but they do agree on farmers. Specifically, they agree that farmers do not get “fair&rdquo...
Corn for Cars; Squeezed Between Two Labors
Corn for Cars Incoming Mexican agriculture minister Julio Berdegue said his country’s new government will not reduce imports of (GMO) yellow corn, but will make self-sufficiency in white corn a priority. Others suggested GMO white corn will continue to be restricted no matter the verdict...
FMMO Proposal Released by USDA
Yesterday, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released its proposed changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) from the hearing process that started in July 2023. Below are some of the key updates proposed by AMS: Milk Composition: Update the factors to 3.3 percent...
Summary of Weekend Reads
Back by popular demand. Hang on to your seat, this is a whirlwind review of this past summer weekend’s beach reads. Taxes: One of former President Donald Trump’s signature accomplishments was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which his opponents derided for cutting the taxes of...
USDA Still Quantifying Practices and Procedures for 45Z Tax Credit
On Friday, USDA released a Request for Information (RFI) on the Production of Biofuel Feedstocks Using Climate-Smart Practices, with a 30-day comment period. That implies that the earliest the final rule under 45Z could come is in September – considering a 30-day comment period and, at th...
USDA Proposes More Packer and Stockyard Act Rules
The Administration has proposed a new rule, Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets, designed to clarify unfair practices under the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). This is the fourth in a suite of livestock marketing rules promised in 2021 via President Biden’s Executiv...
Friday Shorts
Non-Meat: In a first, a Europe-based company has sought EU approval to market lab-grown meat, in this case fake foie gras. Some member states have already banned such products. While lab-grown meat remains expensive, and plant-based meat substitutes have faced declining popularity, the increase...
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy; Africa Shines; Trade and the Environment
Trump versus Harris Trade Policy While trade policy analysts assess the future of their vocation under either a Trump or Harris presidency, there is not a lot of uncertainty. Mr. Trump has already advertised his intentions to raise tariffs. He views the U.S. trade deficit as the barometer of ho...
U.S. Policy Battle; WTO Policy Battle; EU Policy Battle
U.S. Policy Battle The two major parties are past the battle over President Biden’s age and should move on to the policy differences. Democrats will try to take their own problem of Biden’s age and apply it to Trump but it is likely to have less salience. Instead, the election will...
Weekend Reading Insights
Because the information superhighway is tl;dr, we did the work for you and summarized the most relevant. Economic Growth: It is not just the result of building tangible things but making use of new ideas. It is relentless technological progress. Economist Daniel Susskind Trade Flows: Water foll...
Biden Drops Out 107 Days Before Election: What Now?
The 2024 election cycle has been unique from the outset, and it just got more so with President Joe Biden opting to step aside. This came after more than three weeks of a crescendo of calls from within the Democrat party for the President to drop out of the race. The trigger was Biden’s d...
Doubling Down on Protectionism; Conflicting CAP Goals
Doubling Down on Protectionism Typically, the party platforms crafted every four years by Republicans and Democrats are equally meaningless. Some of their policy prescriptions become codified but many do not. But speakers at this week’s Republican Convention are leaving no doubt that &ldq...
No Olive Branch; Farm Price Charade
No Olive Branch In 2018, the U.S. began imposing 30-44 percent antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives originating in Spain. The EU was aghast since it implied that farm payments could be countervailed. Brussels challenged the duties in the WTO dispute settlement process and won. T...
Trump Picks JD Vance as Running Mate
On the eve of the Republican national nominating convention, Former President Trump has picked freshman Ohio Senator JD Vance, a one-time critic, to be his running mate. There is an element of generational balance; Vance is 39, Trump is 78. Ideologically, Vance who was endorsed by Trump in the...
Food Security Angst; More Trade Agreements; Ag Regains EU Power
Food Security Angst Norway announced that it would spend $6 million a year for five years to build up a 60–75-thousand-ton grain reserve, or a three-month supply. The head of the Olam agricultural trading warned of a potential future food war. Supply chains are fragile, countries are erec...
Farm Bill Reassessment; Von der Leyen Threads Needle; Trade Agreements are Dead
Farm Bill Reassessment The chance of reauthorizing the farm bill this year was already looking unlikely but now it has shifted that way for new reasons. A House Agriculture Committee approved bill pleased farm groups but faced a gauntlet from food assistance groups and others on the political l...
SCOTUS Regulatory Ruling Already Having Impact
On 5 July, WPI reported that the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the so-called “Chevron deference” whereby courts were to defer to agencies interpretations of ambiguous legislative intent, could have significant impacts on fede...
PRC GMO in USA; Food Aid Dependency; CFTC Musical Chairs
PRC GMO in USA Members of Congress on the House Select Committee on China are furious at USDA for moving forward with approval of a biotech soybean developed by China’s QiBiodesign. China has refused to approve for domestic planting GMO’s that have been develop by Western companies...
U.S. Talk Representative; EUDR Expansion; Hungary Tanks Innovation; Russia Bolsters CAP
U.S. Talk Representative The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that grants duty free access to products from poorer countries expired almost four years ago. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides similar nonreciprocal preferential access to the U.S. market but aimed...
Trade Barriers or Facilitation; Ag Rises in EU; Biden Regs
Trade Barriers or Facilitiation The WTO reported that its monitoring of various countries evidences that members are introducing more trade-facilitating policies than they are trade-restrictive measures. It only seems unreal because the trade restrictive practices receive more media attention...
Regulatory Agenda for 2024
The Administration has released its regulatory agenda for the rest of 2024. The agenda is a public notice process that details agencies’ work on proposed and upcoming regulations that will be put out for comment. In all, USDA has 109 regulations in the works, some significant and some les...
Capital Investment and Productivity
While much of the focus on Europe relates to political instability in the EU, and threats from Russia, there are ample economic issues that also need to be addressed. This is true in both industrial production and agricultural output. European farms continue to lag their American counterparts i...
Ag Appropriations Overview
Congress is back in session after the 4th of July Independence Day holiday break. But there are only 12 days on the legislative calendar for the month; there will be a break next week for the Republican nominating convention, and then Congress adjourns for the August recess on 2 August. Legisla...
New Paradigm for Regulatory Policy?
On 28 June, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (Secretary of Commerce) case, which could have significant impacts on federal regulatory policy moving forward as it overruled the so-called “Chevron deference” in place for the past 40 years...
Transatlantic Monopsonists; Ex-Im Battle Continues
Transatlantic Monopsonists The three coalition partners (EPP, S&D, Renew) set to continue running the EU cannot agree on a sustainability agenda since the Greens got trounced in recent elections but they do agree on farmers. Specifically, they agree that farmers do not get “fair&rdquo...
Corn for Cars; Squeezed Between Two Labors
Corn for Cars Incoming Mexican agriculture minister Julio Berdegue said his country’s new government will not reduce imports of (GMO) yellow corn, but will make self-sufficiency in white corn a priority. Others suggested GMO white corn will continue to be restricted no matter the verdict...
FMMO Proposal Released by USDA
Yesterday, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released its proposed changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) from the hearing process that started in July 2023. Below are some of the key updates proposed by AMS: Milk Composition: Update the factors to 3.3 percent...
Summary of Weekend Reads
Back by popular demand. Hang on to your seat, this is a whirlwind review of this past summer weekend’s beach reads. Taxes: One of former President Donald Trump’s signature accomplishments was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which his opponents derided for cutting the taxes of...
USDA Still Quantifying Practices and Procedures for 45Z Tax Credit
On Friday, USDA released a Request for Information (RFI) on the Production of Biofuel Feedstocks Using Climate-Smart Practices, with a 30-day comment period. That implies that the earliest the final rule under 45Z could come is in September – considering a 30-day comment period and, at th...
USDA Proposes More Packer and Stockyard Act Rules
The Administration has proposed a new rule, Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets, designed to clarify unfair practices under the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). This is the fourth in a suite of livestock marketing rules promised in 2021 via President Biden’s Executiv...