President Donald Trump signed an order to impose a new 25% tariff on Indian exports over the country’s continued purchases of Russian oil. The move comes just hours before a separate 25% tariff is set to take effect, meaning many Indian exports will soon face 50% duties.
The new tariffs will take effect in 21 days, according to an executive order signed Wednesday. As with many of Trump’s tariff hikes, the president used emergency powers, arguing that Russia’s actions in Ukraine constitute an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
Take note: A federal appeals court is still deliberating whether the president can use these emergency powers to impose tariffs. The court heard oral arguments in the case last week but has not yet issued a decision.
Bayer sales flat but Crop Science revenue up in second quarter
Bayer reported flat sales overall but a 2.2% increase in revenue from its Crop Science division for 2025’s second quarter as it continues to revamp its organization to cut costs and find efficiencies, the company said.
CEO Bill Anderson said on an earnings call that the company remains committed to a multipronged strategy to address a backlog of what is now about 61,000 legal cases involving Roundup. Days before the Aug. 6 earnings call, Bayer trimmed the number of outstanding cases by 17,000 through a “major settlement with a plaintiffs’ law firm,” the company reported in a news release.
The strategy includes state and federal legislation to limit liability from consumer lawsuits alleging that Bayer did not properly warn of the potential for Roundup to cause cancer. An appropriations bill passed by the House also includes language to shield pesticide manufacturers from product liability lawsuits.
In addition, the Supreme Court is seeking input from the solicitor general before deciding whether to grant a petition from Bayer seeking review of an adverse verdict from Missouri.
Beverage industry demand for corn syrup remains, ADM CEO says
Archer Daniels Midland's top executive says his company has seen “no indication of any changes” in the corn syrup order patterns of beverage companies it supplies following Coca-Cola’s decision to begin selling soda sweetened with cane sugar in U.S. markets.
“We have relationships here in this market that go back decades with the key players, and we have relationships at every level,” ADM CEO Juan Luciano said of beverage companies on an earnings call. “And at this point in time, we have no indication of any changes to their order patterns or their projections. Nor have we seen any volume changes based on any announcement.”
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ADM reported a 10% drop in profit from 2024’s second quarter to this year’s second quarter. It is the largest corn processor in the world, according to the company’s website.
Lindberg sees a lot of opportunity for agriculture in trade deals
Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg, just two days on the job, touted new opportunities for ag exports in an appearance at Minnesota Farmfest Wednesday.
“We've always fed the world and exported more agricultural products than we imported. Today, we're at a deficit, and we're ready to fix that,” he said.
Lindberg pointed, in particular, to agreements announced with the European Union and Japan.
“I look at things like the Japan trade agreement, where we see a 4 ½-billion-dollar opportunity for new ag sales,” he said. “In the EU deal alone, they're estimating that between energy and agriculture, it's going to be a $750 billion opportunity for American agriculture.”
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., with Ag Secretary Brooke RollinsLawmakers seek rollback of Biden-era H2A wage rules
A bipartisan group of 84 House and Senate lawmakers is urging the Trump administration to roll back Biden-era rule changes to the H-2A visa program that they claim have created “unnecessary and burdensome cost increases for the nation’s farmers."
The lawmakers, including House Ag Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Senate Ag Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., have asked Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to rescind a Biden administration rule that alters the way adverse effect wage rates (AEWR) are calculated under the program.
In a letter, the lawmakers said the rule sets hourly wages beyond the six traditional farm work occupations listed in the Agriculture Department's Farm Labor Survey, “resulting in wage determinations that do not accurately reflect the true cost of farm labor.” They also wrote that the rules require farm operators “to pay the highest applicable wage for any task a worker may perform, even if that task represents only a small fraction of their responsibilities.”
FCC to study broadband deployment efforts
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct its annual review on the availability of broadband to all Americans.
The effort will “take a technology neutral and holistic approach to evaluate the state of broadband availability and progress in closing the digital divide in the United States,” an FCC press release says.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said in her own statement that she was concerned the annual review might be used to reduce the federal government’s efforts to deploy broadband across the country.
However, she said she supported the review. “I am glad we were successful in seeking public input on whether broadband can truly be considered available if it isn’t affordable, and I look forward to that record,” she said in a statement.
Final word
“Through these new trade agreements, I think the world is becoming a new playing field, a new chess board.” — Luke Lindberg, USDA undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. He also said that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has told him “unequivocally, that agriculture will be a part of every single one of these agreements” being negotiated.
Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
