6 years, 2 months ago AFBF
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC that the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations are “far from being completed.” While noting that progress was made on easier provisions, he says “very little has been done on the hard issues,” including automotive trade and agriculture. Ross says President Trump could still choose to withdrawal from the agreement, saying a final renegotiated deal "will either be 100 percent or zero percent" acceptable. However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (true-doh), in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp Wednesday said: “I don’t think the president is going to be cancelling it,” saying it would be “obviously bad,” if he did. The next series of talks are to begin February 26th in Mexico City. Meanwhile, there's speculation that the bid to salvage the free-trade pact will continue beyond an end of March deadline, which was set to avoid Mexico's presidential race.
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Senator Says Trump Can’t Unilaterally Withdraw from NAFTA
Senator Tom Udall (you-doll) of New Mexico is urging Congress to “step up” and tell President Trump that there is widespread support for the North American Free Trade Agreement modernization effort, but not an exit from the trade deal. The Democrat says Trump “cannot unilaterally repeal” trade laws regarding NAFTA, “even if he can issue unilateral statements” regarding NAFTA participation, according to Politico. The comments came during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing earlier this week. Udall says the withdraw threat is “a tactic doomed to fail,” and adds that, if carried through, “our economy and border will suffer great damage.” The President also received a letter from high ranking Senate Republicans before his State of the Union Address earlier this week, highlighting the economic benefits of the deal, particularly for the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The group, led by Colorado Republican Cory Gardner, says modernizing the deal would be “the next step to advance the economy.” Senate Agriculture Chair Pat Roberts also signed the letter, along with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and others.
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EPA, Army Corps, Sign WOTUS Delay
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has signed an order to block the Waters of the U.S. Rule. A hold of the rule placed in 2015 will soon be lifted by a federal appeals court following the Supreme Court ruling that says jurisdiction of the rule lies in federal district courts, not appeals courts. Pruitt appeared at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture winter meeting Wednesday, telling attendees "I am actually singing that today," when asked about the WOTUS delay. Bloomberg News reports the White House on Tuesday completed its review of an EPA rule to postpone the regulation until 2020. Pruitt promises a new WOTUS proposal by the end of the year. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers in February plan to hold more consultations with state water, environmental, and agriculture officials to find out where they should draw the line on the geographic reach of the Clean Water Act, according to EPA officials.
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USDA launches Electronic Market Info Service
The Department of Agriculture Wednesday announced the launch of a new electric data platform to deliver market price information to the commodities industry. The Market Analysis and Reporting Service, nicknamed MARS, is a web-based platform that USDA says provides detailed data sets "in a more customer-focused way" to support competitive markets for farmers and to help stabilize food prices. Through USDA Market News, the ‘boots on the ground' approach to gathering market data will collect and post the data to the new system. Greg Ibach, (eye-bah) undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, says the program “applies the best data management practices” to make data available “when and where farmers, packers and processors need it.” Starting Friday, Market News information for dairy products will be the first set of data and reports available through MARS followed by cotton and tobacco, scheduled for April 2018. Dates for livestock, poultry and grain and specialty crops will soon be announced on the new My Market News website. The portal can be found at mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov/.
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USDA Rejects Poultry Line Speed Request
The Department of Agriculture has denied a request by the National Chicken Council to allow for faster processing line speeds in packing plants. The decision follows a petition from NCC asking for young chicken plants to be exempt from the 140-birds-per-minute maximum line speed under the New Poultry Inspection System. USDA says the petition asked for no line speed limit, while industry data suggests speeds can be safely maintained up to 175 birds per minute, according to meat industry publication Meatingplace. However, rather than casting a net for a broad waiver, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the International Production and Processing Expo that USDA would consider individual request, by company or plant, if that request is backed up by safety data. Perdue said: “We want you to be as efficient and effective as you safely can be in operating your businesses,” adding: “Some of you can do that, some of you cannot.” USDA says the agency received about 100,000 comments on the issue. The opposition says workers in processing plants are already working at a “breakneck speed.”
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AVMA Urges Congressional Action on Veterinary Shortages
The American Veterinary Medical Association says veterinary shortages are threatening animal health, public health and the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. The association Wednesday urged Congress to help address the issue by passing legislation called the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act. Data from the Department of Agriculture shows that 187 regions in the United States currently suffer from shortages of livestock and public health veterinarians. Increasing veterinary student debt, which reached $143,700 on average for 2016 graduates of veterinary colleges, is partly to blame for the shortages, according to the association. The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program helps by offering loan forgiveness to veterinarians who commit to serving at least three years in underserved areas. However, AVMA says the program does not receive enough funding to meet demand, in part because each award is subject to an expensive income tax withholding. The legislation supported by AVMA would eliminate the tax funding to support more communities in need of veterinarians, all within the current funding level provided by Congress.
