Items Tagged with 'Federal Maritime Commission'

Criticism is piling up on the Federal Maritime Commission’s attempt to define exactly what a reasonable reason is for ocean carrier companies to refuse to haul U.S. farm commodity exports to their destinations overseas.

Archer Daniels Midland company CEO Juan Ricardo Luciano said in the company’s third-quarter earnings call Tuesday that low water levels on the Mississippi River will likely reduce soy exports from North America.

USDA has sharply raised its forecast for food inflation this year.

Congress last week made it clear that ocean carrier companies cannot “unreasonably” refuse to book space on ships for U.S. ag exports, but now it’s up to the Federal Maritime Commission to decide exactly what that means and the fate of foreign markets for U.S. some farm commodities is at stake.

“Not that I’m aware of.” House Agriculture Chairman David Scott says that answer from Tim Schellpeper, the CEO of meatpacking giant JBS USA, at a hearing in April is enough to justify setting up a special investigator’s office at USDA to look into meat industry practices.

A key Republican lawmaker is firing a warning shot at the Biden administration over Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack’s broad spending authority.

With the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 advancing quickly in Congress, shipping experts have begun to turn a critical eye toward the Federal Maritime Commission – the agency responsible for regulating overseas trade.

Senate leaders are testing the waters to see if they can bring up the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and pass the bill relatively quickly.

Senate Republicans have forced Democrats to go on the record as protecting existing tax benefits when it comes to transferring farm assets from one generation to the next.

President Biden is expected to sign his executive order today addressing concentration in agribusiness, transportation and other sectors. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to promote the White House initiative.