The Trump administration’s pick for the U.S. candidate to helm the World Food Program has laid out his case in an op-ed for Newsweek, arguing he can “unite member states.”
“America First, in fact, has never meant America alone,” Luke Lindberg, who currently serves as USDA undersecretary for trade, writes. “[T]his is a moment to choose leadership that is both principled and practical. Leadership that can unite member states. Leadership that can strengthen trust and deliver results at scale.”
Lindberg pointed to his oversight of several food assistance programs, including the newly housed Food for Peace program, as a demonstration of his abilities.
“WFP deserves leadership that will meet this moment with urgency, credibility, and resolve, and I would be honored and humbled to serve humanity in this noble task,” he added.
A person familiar with the situation told Agri-Pulse that Lindberg has yet to meet with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and wanted to get the op-ed out before the formal interview process kicks off.
But, but, but: Chris Barrett, a food security and ag economics professor at Cornell, said the U.S. candidate making his case publicly is unusual, given the U.S. candidate has been appointed to lead WFP since the 1990s.
“[I]t suggests to me an awareness that the international community might not exhibit its traditional deference to the U.S.,” Barrett said in an email.
Devex first reported on some European resistance to another U.S. WFP executive director.
An official from a European nation told Agri-Pulse that “President Trump has shaken the chess board” on international assistance and should not expect other countries to react passively.
“He thinks that the other pieces are going to stay there, in the air. But no. That's not what will happen. I think that the pieces are going to look for new alliances, and the chess board will be different in the future,” they said.
When asked about potential European opposition last week, Lindberg told Agri-Pulse he hasn’t heard of any concerns about his nomination. At a roundtable with manufacturers of child malnutrition treatments on Monday, Lindberg also pushed back on criticisms that the administration has deprioritized international aid.
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“Right now, there's a sense about the world that the U.S. is retreating from our role in international affairs. And I want to say today that that could not be more incorrect,” he said. “The United States is stepping up in new and, admittedly, different ways, and the administration is seeking to align with where the American people are at.”
Soybean sector fears Chinese retaliation at 301 cases
Senior administration officials are insisting that when it comes to China, it is now seeking stability. But as officials pivot to alternative tariff powers, the U.S. soybean sector fears new trade probes could risk provoking backlash from Beijing.
“Tariffs imposed under IEEPA, which this investigation seeks to replicate, caused Beijing to retaliate,” American Soybean Association Vice President Dave Walton told officials during a hearing Tuesday. The group is concerned, Walton said, the probes into unfair trade practices could lead to “the reimposition of the higher tariffs against U.S. soybeans by China.”
China is a target of both a Section 301 investigation into efforts to curb forced labor in supply chains and one on manufacturing overcapacity. Walton spoke on the first day of a four-day hearing in the latter investigation.
Beijing responded to the two investigations launched in March by unveiling its own probes into the U.S. disruption of global supply chains and trade barriers on green products. The investigations are expected to be completed within six months.
Georgia ag official asks federal antitrust regulators to probe Sysco deal
Georgia Ag Commissioner Tyler Harper is asking federal antitrust officials to probe major food distributor Sysco’s proposed acquisition of foodservice supplier Jetro Restaurant Depot, arguing it represents a “troubling trend of corporate consolidation in the agriculture industry and food supply chain.”
In a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, Harper said that Sysco already controls close to 20% of the food service market.
"This proposed acquisition will dramatically reshape America’s food supply chain, making it more fragile and increasing costs on American restaurant owners and their customers,” Harper wrote.
Take note: As part of the deal, Sysco would pay Restaurant Depot shareholders $21.6 billion in cash proceeds and 91.5 million Sysco shares. Overall, the deal is worth around $29.1 billion, according to a press release.
Nitrate pollution needs to be addressed, groups tell Zeldin, Kennedy
Environmental groups are urging EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services to act quickly to address the issue of high nitrates in drinking water.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 83 groups cite a recent report showing that Iowa has the highest waterway nitrate contamination, ranks second in the nation for cancer incidence, and is one of only three states where rates are rising.
The Iowa Environmental Council/Harkin Institute report focuses on Iowa, but the underlying data shows that “people drinking water across the country” are at “substantially higher risk of cancer and other adverse health impacts” due to runoff from fertilizer applications and manure from concentrated animal feeding operations.
The letter notes that a number of groups, including the Iowa Environmental Council, submitted a petition to EPA in 2024 seeking emergency action to address the nitrate situation in Iowa.
Group files lawsuit to get documents on disposal of treated seeds
The Center for Food Safety is seeking documents from EPA about the use and disposal of treated seeds at ethanol plants.
The group is suing the agency in federal court to gain access to documents on four different neonicotinoids. CFS first asked for the information under the Freedom of Information Act in 2023.
"The unregulated disposal of coated seeds has caused severe human health and ecological harm, and it is unclear where seed companies are sending this toxic seed waste,” CFS attorney Suzannah Smith said. “It's essential we obtain this information to mitigate the harm of this toxic waste.”
Final word
“If we impose a tariff, they're going to retaliate with a similar tariff. And so that's what we're trying to avoid here.” – American Soybean Association Vice President Dave Walton in a comment to Agri-Pulse after USTR’s Section 301 hearing Tuesday, voicing concern that China will retaliate against the U.S. imposition of tariffs.
Kim Chipman, Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
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