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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Sunday, January 16, 2022
The 2019 version of the Trump administration’s Market Facilitation Program overestimated trade damages and was marked by regional payment disparities among farmers growing the same crops, according to an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
President Joe Biden’s effort to amass partners for challenging China is taking shape, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is working to rekindle ties with historical allies such as Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom while forging new bonds with countries such as India and Vietnam.
Farmers, ranchers and ag exporters hoping President Joe Biden will engage Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday evening on trade tariffs or supply chain problems will likely be disappointed. Neither topic is on Biden’s agenda for the virtual meeting, according to a senior White House official who previewed expectations for the conversation to reporters.
Public protests in communist Cuba are rare, so when people recently took to the streets to demonstrate in protest against the government, the world took notice and America’s ag sector is still weighing the implications for trade between the two countries.
The Biden administration is filling Senate-confirmed positions at the Agriculture Department at a slow pace similar to Donald Trump’s first year in office and well behind the rate at which Barack Obama stocked his sub-Cabinet positions.
The Biden administration has been filling positions relatively quickly at departments and agencies other than USDA that have regulatory authority over agriculture, while some of Donald Trump’s nominees to similar positions ran into troubles during the confirmation process.
Taiwan needs to undo the damage it’s doing to U.S. pork exports. That’s one of the contentious messages delivered by the U.S. to Taiwan during recent trade talks, according to sources close to the discussions.
The U.S. and UK have reached a deal to end a dispute over aircraft subsidies as trade leaders from both countries express new optimism over strengthening trade ties.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Thursday beseeched U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to reveal when the Biden administration will engage with Congress to re-establish Trade Promotion Authority – legislation key to negotiating new free trade agreement - but they did not get an answer.
Lawmakers, lobbyists and farm groups are anxious for the Biden administration to take its first concrete steps to begin negotiating international trade agreements and reform at the World Trade Organization to improve international access for U.S. goods as well as rein in China’s expanding global influence.
