Trade

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The top regulator for the nation’s Farm Credit banks says while agricultural loan quality has deteriorated somewhat, it's too early to know whether producers will need additional Market Facilitation Program payments for 2020.

The Agriculture Department’s inspector general is undertaking an extended investigation of the administration’s trade assistance programs, starting with whether USDA had the proper legal authority to make direct payments to farmers.

A proposed U.S.-Kenya pact is expected to create new markets for U.S. farm commodities and equipment and promises to pave the way for new trade standards across sub-Saharan Africa.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association hopes to address some of the industry’s longest-running issues in 2020, goals that will likely need the cooperation of an administration that is up for reelection in November.

The Trump administration has laid out a lengthy list of its complaints and demands for changes in the World Trade Organization’s appellate body five months ahead of the WTO’s twelfth ministerial meeting that will be held in Kazakhstan.

Chinese workers will take a little extra time to return to work as the country continues its fight against the coronavirus. 

President Donald Trump is proposing increases in spending for high-speed internet and other types of rural infrastructure as part of his fiscal 2021 budget.

China’s Finance Ministry announced Thursday that on Feb. 14 it will cut tariff rates on $75 billion worth of U.S. products, including some ag commodities such as soybeans, chicken, pork, oranges and asparagus, but the impact is expected to be minimal.

Net cash farm income is forecast to fall 9% this year as government payments fall off with the end of the Market Facilitation Program, according to the Agriculture Department.

President Donald Trump served notice though his State of the Union address Tuesday night that his new trade deals are going to be a major part of his case for reelection.