Agriculture Department employees have been told to unfreeze Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grants and are now working to notify recipients individually. A Rhode Island judge was informed of USDA’s action on Wednesday.
The agency is working to provide individualized notices alerting awardees that withheld funds will once again be distributed. If it cannot do so, agency leaders are considering posting a notice on the agency’s website or in payment portals, according to a status report filed on behalf of USDA and four other federal agencies.
Take note: USDA doesn’t have an estimate of how much IRA or BIL funding has been disbursed since the judge’s April 15 order. But the status report says payment requests are now being approved.
USDA programs affected by the freeze include the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and the Rural Energy for America Program. USDA said last month it was unfreezing funds for REAP and two other energy programs but gave grantees 30 days to modify their proposals to remove diversity, equity and inclusion provisions.
Countries want to capitalize on China-US conflict
Business leaders and government officials are in Washington this week for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings. Some governments are using the opportunity to show countries outside of the U.S. and China that they’re open for business.
EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis said in a speech Wednesday that “Europe is determined not to let this crisis go to waste.” He argued that the EU would deepen international trade ties, reduce internal trade barriers and streamline red tape to attract investment displaced by trade developments.
“Tearing down the remaining barriers would boost the EU's competitiveness while attracting global talent and investment,” he said.
Similarly, United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said that while public attention has focused on a potential U.K.-U.S. trade deal, she also wants to facilitate trade with other economies.
“This week is an opportunity to build on some of those links,” Reeves said.
Take note: The White House stressed that the U.S. won’t unilaterally cut tariffs on China, despite reporting in the Wall Street Journal that says the president is considering reductions.
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that whether the tariffs on Chinese products are lowered, “depends on them.”
“If we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're going to set the tariff. We just set the tariff,” Trump added.
Court rejects restraining order to halt reciprocal tariffs
The Court of International Trade has denied a temporary restraining order to halt the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs while a legal challenge plays out.
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A CIT panel argued that the group of small businesses represented in the case did not show that the tariffs would do “immediate and irreparable” harm — the threshold for approval.
“We respectfully disagree,” said Jeffrey Schwab, a lawyer at the Liberty Justice Center, which brought the case on the plaintiff’s behalf.
He told Agri-Pulse his clients “will have to delay imports and pause operations, sales and expansion, harming their relationships with suppliers and customers.” He added that they would suffer long-term reputational damage and lost business opportunities and market share.
The case is one of several challenging Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs. Oregon led a group of 12 states that lodged their own complaint at the CIT on Wednesday.
Kennedy wants to educate public about sugar
Announcing the federal government’s plan to transition the food supply away from synthetic food dyes on Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a bold statement for the nation’s top health official: he called sugar “poison.”
That, and Kennedy’s statement that the recommended amount of sugar should be “zero,” came as a delightful surprise to some of the “Make America Healthy Again” advocates in the room.
Kennedy wants to ensure Americans understand how much sugar they are consuming and the potential health impacts. One way he suggested doing that is through the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which the Department of Health and Human Services and USDA are tasked with finalizing this year.
Currently, the guidelines recommend limiting added sugars to less than 10% of total daily calories.
Industry’s take: The Sugar Association said quality science would back the role “real sugar in moderation” plays in balanced diets. The group pointed to a recent Nature article that says recommending no or very little sugar intake — such as 5% or less of daily calories — could be overly restrictive and difficult to reach under a “palatable diet.” The study found this could lead to a decrease in other nutritious foods that have trace amounts of added sugars.
“In fact, real sugar has been consumed for millennia, added sugars are some of the most studied ingredients in the food supply, and consumption in the United States is at its lowest in 40 years, while obesity continues its relentless rise,” said Sugar Association President and CEO Courtney Gaine.
Organic industry: We’d like to onshore more production
The organic food industry is warning that tariffs could slow that sector’s growth. The industry relies on imports of organic corn and soybeans for feed as well as beef to supply the U.S. market. Some organic produce also is imported, particularly from Mexico.
“We have long been advocates in all administrations for trying to onshore those organic opportunities,” said Matthew Dillon, co-CEO of the Organic Trade Association. But he told reporters there are some limitations with processing infrastructure.
“We think that the public and private sector need to continue to make investments in those domestic opportunities in order to onshore those dollars, capture that price premium for organic for our producers of corn, soy and beef.”
Take note: OTA reported Tuesday that sales of organic products grew 5.2% last year, the fastest rate since 2020. The group is projecting similar growth over the rest of the decade, based on demographic data.
Final word
“It’s no secret I enjoy working with Senator Durbin. I’ll be sorry to see him retire from the Senate. Obviously, he’s liberal and I’m conservative, yet we have a wonderful working relationship. Take, for example, the First Step Act, the first criminal justice reform in a generation we got signed into law.” — Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, commenting on the retirement of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. (lightly edited from X).
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