Renewed hostilities between Iran and the U.S. have effectively brought traffic through the Strait of Hormuz “to a halt,” Lloyds List Intelligence said late Thursday.
The maritime intelligence firm’s alert came after Iranian state media said transit through the strait was only allowed through routes designated by Iran.
U.S. Central Command disputed that claim, saying in a post on X that “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Since early May, U.S. forces have helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor.”
But Lloyd’s List said traffic through the vital international shipping channel “has fallen sharply following the latest escalation between the U.S. and Iran, with traceable vessel transits through the U.S.-coordinated Omani lane effectively grinding to a halt.”
Urea imports fall: Karen Braun, chief market analyst at Zaner Market Hedge, noted, “Just two months after hitting an all-time monthly high, U.S. urea imports plunged to an 18-year low for May, down 47% from a year earlier. This sharp reversal came during a period of extreme disruption in global urea trade as exports from the Middle East dried up.”
Exports to Vietnam on upswing, USDA finds
The U.S. exported $4.7 billion in agricultural products to Vietnam in 2025, making the U.S. the second largest agriculture supplier to the country, according to a July 9 report released by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
“The greatest potential for U.S. agricultural exports in the Vietnamese market includes U.S. fresh fruits, dairy products, poultry and poultry products, feed and feed ingredients, cotton, ethanol, and agricultural-related products, including seafood and forestry products,” the report says.
Exports to Vietnam have been on the rise for the last decade. The U.S. supplies 13.4% of all agricultural products to Vietnam, trailing China at 13.5%. The U.S. is the largest supplier of cotton to the country, sending $1.3 billion in cotton to Vietnam in 2025. The USDA said this accounts for a 122% increase from 2024.
In 2025, Vietnam bought from the U.S.: $91.1 million in fresh fruit; $149.2 million in dairy products; $113 million in poultry products; $581 million in soybeans; $394 million in corn; and $4.3 million in ethanol. The U.S. is the largest exporter of ethanol to Vietnam, with a 58% market share.
Wyden says Section 301 investigations are way to recreate global tariffs
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is raising concerns about the pending Section 301 forced labor investigation that would levy tariffs on 60 nations.
In a letter Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Wyden said statements by Trump administration officials “clearly indicate” that the Section 301 tariffs are an effort to reinstitute the global 10% tariffs and higher so-called “reciprocal” levies on dozens of nations.
The Supreme Court in February rolled back the tariffs because it determined the administration didn’t have the authority to impose tariffs using an International Emergency Economic Powers law.
“Rather than a targeted approach, USTR has proposed that some of the worst offenders for forced labor receive the same rate under this proposed action as countries that have long been cooperative partners for the United States,” Wyden said. The tariffs range from 10% to 12.5%, according to a June 5 notice from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Wyden also called the administration’s enforcement of a 2016 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention law “disappointing,” noting that the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force hasn't added any entities to the list since Jan. 15, 2025. He also said the value of shipments detained under the law have decreased under the administration from nearly $1.8 billion in 2024 to $166 million in 2025.
USTR held a three-day hearing on the proposed Section 301 tariffs that concluded Thursday.
IFPA’s Cathy Burns says EPR laws create ‘headwinds’ for consumers
Extended producer responsibility laws will “end up ultimately raising prices for consumers,” Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association, tells Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.
The laws – which have been enacted in seven states and are under consideration in 10 more – shift responsibility for packaging waste from consumers and communities to the companies that make the packaging.
Burns said the industry is trying to adapt with more sustainable packaging, such as compostable Price Look-Up stickers with compostable glue, but they need more time. “We've invested a lot as an industry to come up with new innovative packaging for our industry to be able to support,” she says on the show, which airs today.
If the industry is taxed on the packaging, “those costs are going to end up being driven down to the consumer at a time where we need people eating more fruits and vegetables, not less.”
Also on Newsmakers: Troy Bredenkamp, senior vice president of government and public affairs at the Renewable Fuels Association, shared his support for a reciprocal ethanol tariff on Brazil. Krista Swanson, chief economist at the National Corn Growers Association, said Brazil’s infrastructure is a “big concern” for U.S. agriculture, as detailed in the recent NCGA report.
Watch Agri-Pulse Newsmakers here later today.
Food as Medicine evaluation finds benefits
People who had “consistent access to nutritious food” were able to reduce self-reported hospitalizations by 14% and emergency department visits by 11%, a newly released evaluation finds.
Feeding America, in partnership with Elevance Health Foundation, called the report “the nation's largest Food as Medicine evaluation of food banks.”
The three-year program was evaluated by the Center for Nutrition & Health Impact. The program “screened more than 1.45 million patients for food insecurity and connected more than 161,000 households across 13 states to nutritious food, demonstrating that nutrition and health care support improves health. and strengthens food security among people facing hunger,” a Feeding America press release said.
Final word
“This proposal to eliminate engine deratements and reform the Biden-era DEF requirements will lower costs, increase safety, and keep our nation’s food supply moving. Our rural communities rely on diesel powered engines to deliver their food, families, electricity, and so much more to where it needs to go. The billions in savings will directly benefit those who feed, fuel, and clothe our nation.” — Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on an EPA proposal to end diesel exhaust fluid deratements.
