Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and President Donald Trump met at the White House Thursday to discuss trade and tariffs, according to Trump.
The pair were scheduled to speak to reporters together but ended up skipping the press appearance. Reuters reported Wednesday that JBS co-owner billionaire Joesley Batista had been instrumental in brokering the meeting.
“Additional meetings will be scheduled over the coming months, as necessary,” Trump wrote on social media after the meeting.
Brazil is the subject of two investigations into unfair trade practices that could lead to new tariffs.
Take note: Rumors have been swirling in beef circles that the administration is again considering expanding imports to bring beef prices down.
Brazil, which is the largest exporter of beef to the U.S., could stand to benefit from any arrangement. The U.S. currently allocates quotas to several countries to allow some beef to enter at a reduced tariff rate, including Argentina, which saw its quota temporarily extended this year. Brazilian beef producers, however, use a tariff-rate quota that is open to all countries.
But an administration official told Agri-Pulse that no decision has been made on the matter and any action, if it materializes, could be some way off.
“Nothing is imminently happening and it definitely would not be something specific to Brazil,” the official said. “I don’t think we’re cutting them any favors or any wins or anything like that.”
Farmers clamor for answers on 45Z and sustainable ag
U.S. farmers are eager for any information on what’s happening with regenerative ag and taking full advantage of the 45Z biofuel production tax credit.
“It's one of the most frequent questions I've been getting lately directly from farmers,” University of Illinois agricultural economist Scott Irwin said Wednesday at a biofuel conference in Chicago. “There’s tremendous interest in farm country.”
The White House is reviewing USDA’s proposed “technical guidelines” on regenerative agricultural biofuel feedstocks, such as corn and soybeans. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department is working on final rules for 45Z, which is intended to encourage more production of U.S. transportation fuels made with home-grown materials.
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A big question is how farmers can get full value of 45Z through regen ag practices. It’s not clear yet how low-carbon practices like cover cropping might increase the worth of 45Z. The tax credit’s value hinges on the greenhouse-gas emissions of a biofuel’s entire production supply chain.
“There’s a lot of interest,” Irwin said. “But everybody's in a holding pattern until the rules are finalized.”
Small business job losses from tariffs exceed pandemic era, report finds
Businesses with under 10 employees have suffered a higher rate of job losses in 2025 than during 2020 at the height of the pandemic, a new analysis notes.
A report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, which has lawmakers from both the House and Senate, found businesses lost 292,000 jobs in 2025, almost four and a half times the 2020 rate.
“Businesses with fewer than 10 employees in especially tariff-exposed industries account for over half of total jobs lost at the smallest businesses since April 2025,” the report reads.
Take note: Importers have paid more than $280 billion since March 2025, including $166 billion of emergency tariffs that were later ruled unlawful.
“There has been little relief from the onslaught of tariff costs for small businesses,” said Dan Anthony, executive director of We Pay the Tariffs, in a statement. We Pay the Tariffs is a coalition of more than 1,000 small businesses opposed to tariffs.
Senate delegation pushes Beijing for ag market access
A bipartisan delegation of senators met with Chinese officials this week and pressed Beijing to open market access for U.S. commodities, including beef, according to a readout.
Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., met with China’s premier and foreign minister, among others, according to a readout from Daines’ office.
“The senators discussed the importance of reciprocal trade and opening up China’s markets to sustained agriculture trade across beef, wheat, pulse crops, potatoes, apples, cherries, soybeans, grain sorghum, seafood, and other industries,” the readout says.
Take note: Trump is set to meet with President Xi Jinping next week. The administration has indicated it is hoping for agricultural trade outcomes.
Maryland House Ag member concerned about Beltsville Ag Research Center closure
The century-old Beltsville Ag Research Center (BARC) in Maryland is relocating more than 1,000 jobs and dozens of research projects as part of the USDA’s reorganization. But Maryland Rep. April McClain Delaney isn’t letting the facility in her state shutter without putting up a fight.
“We really need to think carefully about how research is preserved, and some of these things just can't be uprooted and transferred,” Delaney says on this week’s Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.
Research on New World screwworm, conservation, pesticides and nutrition is conducted at the facility. The National Bee Laboratory housed at BARC will be relocated to Utah, which Delaney says will jeopardize the research quality if bees are exposed to a new climate with different flora and fauna.
Deputy Ag Secretary Stephen Vaden, who is leading the reorganization, says the 6,500-acre facility would have required an initial one-year investment of over $500 million to modernize just 11 of the more than 400 buildings, followed by ongoing annual investments of over $40 million.
“A lot of our public servants are just not going to move,” Delaney argued, citing the potential for the loss of “decades of institutional knowledge.”
SNAP stocking standards slammed
New stocking standards for retailers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will force thousands of them from the program, food advocacy groups say.
The new rule more than doubles the varieties of foods that retailers, including convenience stores, will have to keep on their shelves to be authorized for the program.
“The rule causes considerable confusion and does not address key concerns from advocates, retailers, and communities,” the Food Research & Action Center said in a news release, noting that USDA itself estimates that about 5,000 retailers will leave the program.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says the rule fails to tie the standards to nutrition requirements and offers “no technical assistance for retailers,” putting them at risk of being booted from the program.
USDA’s press release said the changes “will not only ensure vulnerable families in need have more nutritious options wherever they shop but demand more accountability from retailers who not only have stocked the bare minimum, but have seen the most program violations, including benefit trafficking and other fraudulent behavior.”
Final word
“This is the gas price vote of 2026 in my mind. The war in Iran should make this a really easy vote in my mind. You're voting for more supply. You're voting for lower price fuel. It's kind of a no-brainer to me.” – Anthony Reed, partner at FGS Global, on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers discussing the House vote on year-round E15 tentatively slated for Wednesday, May 13. “
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