President Donald Trump says he’s trusting House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to get a deal done on E15 that works for farmers, consumers and oil companies.
Republican leaders “are working on it,” Trump said in Iowa on Tuesday. “They’re very close to getting it done.”
Trump got a huge roar of applause after saying that he promised in his presidential campaign to support E15. Trump’s comments came after some key Republicans urged the president to speak up to help get legislation passed.
Trump’s comments were praised by the National Corn Growers Association. “The president sounds like he’s committed to signing E15 legislation into law, and we are here for it,” the group said in an emailed statement.
But, but, but: Whether lawmakers are actually close to a deal is another question. There are still big issues with oil refiners. For more on the prospects for a year-round E15 deal, read this week’s Agri-Pulse newsletter. We also have a report on MAHA bills making their way through state legislatures this year ,and a look at the hottest new product in crop insurance.
Trump’s tariff affinity isn’t budging as countries diversify trade ties
Folks who thought a pending Supreme Court decision, a new focus on affordability and a mid-term election year might dampen Trump’s tariff enthusiasm are seeing their theories tested.
South Korea is the latest country to face new tariff threats this week, despite an October agreement to lower tariffs. Trump says he would hike tariffs from 15% to 25% on Korean exports because the Korean legislature hadn’t taken steps to ratify the October deal.
The South Korean government had also pledged to streamline regulatory approvals for ag biotech products and address the backlog of U.S. applications.
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“This is a reminder that these trade ‘deals’ are no guarantee,” said Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, in a LinkedIn post. “Businesses will need to plan for permanently higher U.S. tariffs.”
Recent threats to countries that secured pacts with the administration last year “undermine” the value of a U.S. deal, Inu Manak, senior fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations said in her own analysis.
Take note: Some countries are responding by deepening trade ties with other large economies, including China. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer headed to Beijing for a three-day visit on Tuesday, marking the first China trip by a UK leader since 2018.
Canada’s Mark Carney was in the Chinese capital earlier this month for the first such visit in a decade. India also unveiled a free-trade agreement with the European Union this week.
Grassley on fertilizer collusion claims
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, weighed in on Trump administration claims that fertilizer companies Nutrien and Mosaic are working to “collude” on limiting U.S. supplies of crop nutrients and control prices.
On the comments from Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden last week, Grassley said if laws are being broken, then it’s an enforcement issue. Antitrust laws, some going back more than a century, don’t need changing, the senator told reporters on Tuesday.
Grassley, along with fellow Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, has a bill that would require USDA to study competition and trends in the fertilizer market and their impact on prices. The measure, supported by the Iowa Corn Growers Association, is aimed at “more transparency of the dealings between middle people and the fertilizer companies and the farmers,” Grassley said.
Take note: Grassley has long maintained that the U.S. shouldn’t have tariffs on farm inputs or machinery items imported by companies like Deere for tractor repair.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing (Customs and Border Protection photo)Deere to expand in U.S. with new distribution center, excavator factory
John Deere unveiled plans Tuesday to open two new American facilities, creating hundreds of jobs while shifting excavator production from Japan to the United States.
The agricultural and construction equipment giant says it has already broken ground on a state-of-the-art distribution center near Hebron, Indiana, and a $70 million excavator factory in Kernersville, North Carolina. Both facilities are scheduled to open within the next year.
"Our investment in these new facilities underscores John Deere's dedication to strengthening the backbone of American industry," John Deere CEO John May said.
The Indiana distribution center will employ approximately 150 workers, which Deere says will streamline supply chain operations.
John Deere tractor (USDA photo)Bill proposes fruit and vegetable prescription program for veterans
Military veterans with diet-related chronic conditions could get produce prescriptions from the Department of Veterans Affairs under a new bipartisan bill in Congress.
The Produce Prescription for Veterans Act was introduced Tuesday in the Senate by Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and in the House by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. The bill would allow veterans to get vouchers or debit cards to buy fruits and vegetables.
Take note: A produce prescription program is not an entirely new concept for the VA. The agency previously attempted smaller-scale pilots of such a program at facilities in Houston and Salt Lake City.
Electric vehicle charging funds illegally withheld from states
A federal judge has ruled that the Department of Transportation illegally withheld about $1 billion for electric vehicle charging infrastructure from 20 states and the District of Columbia.
The Trump administration’s decision to stop releasing funds from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program “runs counter to the Administrative Procedure Act; it is simply not how things are lawfully done,” U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said in her opinion.
The judge stopped DOT and the Federal Highway Administration from suspending or revoking the plaintiff states’ and D.C.’s approved electric vehicle infrastructure plans in the future. She also said they could not withhold NEVI Formula Program funds “for any reason not set forth in the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] or FHWA regulations,” according to her order.
Final Word
“The farmers stuck with me the first time, and I was right, when China did a little bit of a number, we gave you $28 billion then…. Now we gave them $12 [billion], sort of a minimal payment. … The tariffs are going to be phenomenal for the farmers – but they just kicked in.” – President Donald Trump in an interview with Fox News during his Iowa visit.
Kim Chipman, Steve Davies, Lydia Johnson, Noah Wicks, Oliver Ward, and Bob Ellison contributed to today’s Daybreak
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