The Agriculture Department is rushing to finish a new trade assistance package for farmers hurt by the ongoing trade war with China, while congressional negotiators this week look to pass a long-stalled disaster aid package before the week-long recess for Memorial Day.

The U.S. has agreed to lift its steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, removing major obstacles for ratification of the renegotiated North American free trade pact by all three countries.

Japan has agreed to lift a significant restriction on U.S. beef that’s expected to result in as much as an additional $200 million in annual U.S. exports, USDA announced Friday.

President Donald Trump is donating his salary for the first quarter of the year to the Department of Agriculture, where the $100,000 contribution will be "used for outreach programs that benefit farmers," a White House official tells Agri-Pulse.

The U.S., Canada and Mexico are getting close to a deal to lift U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on its North American allies, clearing the way for ratification of a new trade pact for the three countries, says U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, in an unusually blunt confrontation with a senior USDA official, threatened to sue the department for resuming enrollment Wednesday in the “continuous” portion of the Conservation Reserve Program.

USDA is scrambling to cobble together a new, multi-faceted, trade aid package for farmers and ranchers suffering from Chinese tariffs.