The Senate Finance Committee has set the stage for negotiations with the House over the tax provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill that Republicans are trying to get to the White House this summer.
There are a few notable differences between the Senate committee’s tax package and the bill passed by the House. One of importance to farmers is that the Section 199A deduction for qualified business income would become permanent but remain at 20%. The House bill would raise the deduction to 23%.
Both bills would increase and make permanent the estate tax exemption and also boost business expensing allowances.
The package “delivers additional tax relief to middle-class families still recovering from record inflation under the Biden Administration,” Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement.
Officials leave Canada-US meetings bullish on future deal
U.S. and Canadian officials left an expanded bilateral meeting between the two governments on the sidelines of the G7 summit optimistic about the prospects for a future deal. “I’m sure we can work something out,” President Donald Trump told reporters, noting that a deal could be “achievable” within weeks.
Canadian Minister for Canada-U.S. Trade Dominic LeBlanc told reporters after the meeting he is “confident” both sides made progress. Negotiators are set to meet again later this week, he said.
Tariffs remain a sticking point in the ongoing discussions, according to Trump. "We have different concepts. I have a tariff concept,” Trump told reporters.
Trump also held meetings with leaders from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Take note: Several agricultural groups from G7 nations took the opportunity to appeal to officials to restore stability in global trade policymaking and adhere to international trade rules.
“[W]e urge G7 governments to recognize that a strong, sustainable, and resilient agricultural sector is essential to economic stability, global cooperation, and long-term prosperity,” the public statement reads. The National Farmers Union was the U.S. signatory.
Groups warn officials about cutting State Department agricultural offices
A coalition of more 20 ag groups are warning senior administration officials not to cut two agricultural offices as part of a State Department reorganization.
The Economic and Business Affairs Bureau’s Office of Agricultural Policy and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs’ Office of Economic and Development Affairs could face the axe under administration plans, the groups say.
“If the United States is to remain the global leader in agriculture, U.S. farmers, ranchers, producers, and industry need the support of these two offices to uplift these interests globally,” the groups wrote in a letter to Secretaries Marco Rubio and Brooke Rollins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The groups argue that the units help ensure other countries do not undermine U.S. interests in international venues and improve the executive branch’s interagency process.
But, but, but: Not everyone agrees. Former Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture Kip Tom told Agri-Pulse he observed significant overlap in work undertaken by State’s agricultural offices and USDA.
“The State Department were very effective. They were very supportive of economic development in the agriculture sphere globally,” Tom said, but added that often there were “similar people” at USDA.
“I'm very supportive of the administration's wanting to downsize and remove redundancies,” Tom added.
Bayer continues push for SCOTUS review of pesticide labeling case
Bayer has filed its final brief asking the Supreme Court to prevent lawsuits against pesticide manufacturers using state product liability law.
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The first sentence of Monday’s brief reiterates a critical argument for the company: that federal appeals courts are split on whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act “preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims based on the content of pesticide product labels.”
Bayer says it’s facing more than 60,000 lawsuits over Roundup exposure. Without the high court’s review, “the mounting liability will force [Bayer] to confront whether to remove Roundup completely from the U.S. market, which would be a disaster for the nation’s farmers and food supply,” the company said in its brief.
“The security and affordability of the food supply depend on having innovative agricultural tools like Roundup available to farmers with uniform and science-based labels that everyone in the stream of commerce can rely on, as dictated by current federal law,” Bayer said in a statement.
Read the brief here and all the documents in the case here. The court is scheduled to discuss whether to grant Bayer’s petition on June 26.
White dairy farmer claims USDA programs are discriminatory
A white Wisconsin dairy farmer is suing USDA over three programs he says discriminate against him because of his race.
In the lawsuit filed in a Wisconsin federal court, Adam Faust alleges constitutional violations in administration of the Dairy Margin Coverage program because he is charged an $100 fee to participate “but minority and women farmers are exempt.”
Faust also cites the loan guarantee program, under which minority and women farmers can get a 95% loan guarantee, while he is eligible for 90%. Lastly, he is eligible for reimbursement of 75% of his costs to build a manure storage system, but minority farmers can get 90%.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is representing Faust. He also sued in 2021 over a congressional program to provide relief to distressed minority borrowers, helping spur a change in the program.
Agencies reworking NEPA guidelines
Several federal agencies have submitted draft National Environmental Policy Act frameworks to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
New NEPA procedures are being reviewed by the Trump administration for agencies across the federal government, including the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Telecommunications and Information Administration, according to OMB’s online regulatory review tracker.
Take note: The new rules follow the Trump administration’s February decision to rescind longstanding Council on Environmental Quality guidelines amid skepticism from courts about the agency’s rulemaking authority.
Final word
“This is caviar over kids, and Mar-a-Lago over the middle class. This bill will drive the vulnerable into misery and drag down the middle class all for the benefit of the rich and powerful, a backward and punishing agenda in a country that’s supposed to provide opportunity for everyone.” – Senate Finance ranking Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon, on the committee GOP’s reconciliation package.
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