| | | | |  | | By Garrett Downs | Presented by Rural Voices USA | With help from Meredith Lee and Doug Palmer
| | | — The House Rules Committee will meet today to consider a "minibus" of appropriations bills, including the proposal to fund the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration. The meeting will tee up the bill for floor action. — Farm groups are bracing for fertilizer to become even more expensive following a vote by the International Trade Commission today on whether to levy new duties against Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. The two countries account for more than 80 percent of imports of U.S. urea ammonium nitrate fertilizers. — The House passed a bill to temporarily remove tariffs on baby formula until December. It could be taken up in the Senate as early as this week. HAPPY MONDAY, JULY 18. Welcome to Morning Ag. I'm your host, Garrett Downs. Tips? Send them along to gdowns@politico.com and @_garrettdowns and follow us @MorningAg.
| | | | HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MIDTERMS? SUBMIT THEM AND JOIN WOMEN RULE ON 7/21: Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade , abortion policy is in the hands of the states and, ultimately, voters. Join POLITICO national political correspondent Elena Schneider for a Women Rule "ask me anything" conversation featuring a panel of reporters from our politics and health care teams who will answer your questions about how the court's decision could play out in different states, its impact on the midterms and what it means for reproductive rights in the U.S. going forward. SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS AND REGISTER HERE. | | | | | Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
| | | RULES TO TAKE UP AG-FDA FUNDING BILL: The House Rules Committee will meet to consider a so-called "minibus" of six annual funding bills today, including the House bill to fund the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration. The meeting of the Rules Committee, which is the gatekeeper to the House floor, is set to tee up the package of bills for floor action. Bill refresh: The Agriculture-FDA bill advanced from the House Appropriations Committee in June includes $27.2 billion in discretionary funding — including billions for agriculture, conservation and nutrition programs. It's a $2 billion increase from last year's spending, but falls slightly short of the White House's proposal. Including mandatory and discretionary funding, the price tag is $195 billion. Specifically, the bill would fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) at $6 billion and allocate $28 billion to other child nutrition programs, including school meals. It also includes over $1 billion for conservation operations, $560 million for rural broadband and $1.8 billion for the international assistance program Food for Peace. What's next: Once the Rules Committee clears the package, it will be set for a full vote on the House floor. House Democrats are hoping to clear most of the 12 appropriations bills by the end of this month. The Senate has not yet released its companion bill.
| | | | A message from Rural Voices USA: Thank you President Biden for unlocking American-made E15 biofuels and taking concrete action to lower fuel prices. E15 supports fuel savings, American farmers, rural jobs and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. In 2020, over 10% of America's motor gasoline consumption came from ethanol - clean fuel grown by America's farmers. By boosting America's ethanol production, we can raise that amount and help farmers and consumers. Learn More. | | | TRADE PANEL TO VOTE ON FERTILIZER DUTIES TODAY: U.S. farm groups are bracing for another increase in their fertilizer costs this morning when the U.S. International Trade Commission votes on whether to approve new Commerce Department duties on imports of urea ammonium nitrate solutions from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago. The two countries account for more than 80 percent of U.S. imports of UAN solutions, which is the most common type of nitrogen fertilizer. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that about 25 percent of U.S. fertilizer operating costs are due to UAN solutions. Proposed duties range from about 17 to 130 percent on imports from Russia and about 113 percent from Trinidad and Tobago. CF Industries, a fertilizer manufacturer and distributor based outside Chicago, filed the case one year ago, accusing producers in both countries of "dumping" UAN in the United States at below market prices and benefiting from government subsidies that reduce costs. The case immediately set off alarm bells for farmers, who have weathered several years of increasing fertilizer prices, even before Russia's war in Ukraine further disrupted supplies. The current investigation also follows an ITC vote in March 2021, when the trade panel voted to approve countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer from Russia and Morocco to offset subsidies provided by both governments. Last year, the ITC voted 5-0 that there was enough evidence that CF Industries was being harmed by the imports for the case to proceed. So, at least three commissioners would have to switch their votes for the duties to be stopped. The National Association of Wheat Growers, the American Soybean Association and the Agricultural Retailers Association urged the commission in a joint brief to consider the bigger picture facing farmers and consumers. But CF argues U.S. trade laws are in place to protect domestic producers like themselves against unfair foreign competition, and that should be the ITC's primary concern. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and more than 80 other members of Congress have also weighed in on the case. They sent a letter in March asking the ITC to "suspend the current process" to impose duties on UAN from Trinidad and Tobago and requesting the duties imposed on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco in 2021 be "reconsidered." Notably, they did not ask for Russia to be let off the hook in either the UAN investigation or the earlier phosphate case, presumably because they do not want to be seen as lobbying on Moscow's behalf.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | FORMULA TARIFF BILL HEADS TO SENATE: The House on Friday passed a bill 421-2 to remove tariffs on baby formula until December, sending it to the Senate – which MA hears could take it up as soon as Tuesday. An ongoing crisis: The bill, sponsored by Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), John Larson (D-Conn.) and Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) is the latest congressional effort to address the ongoing shortage of infant formula, which has left mothers and caregivers scrambling as store shelves remain empty. To help refill shelves after a shutdown of an Abbott Laboratories plant that makes about a fifth of the U.S. supply, the White House has orchestrated over thirty fly-ins of foreign formula. But the U.S. levies tariffs against foreign formula, raising prices for consumers. The cost of tariffs: The U.S. has a most-favored nation tariff rate on infant formula placed between 14.9 and 17 percent, and between 2012 and 2021 the average duty on formula was 25.1 percent, according to the Congressional Research Service. Existing tariff rate quotas often push the duties higher than the MFN rates. What's next: Should the Senate choose to take up the bill, it is likely to garner enough GOP support to pass.
| | | | A message from Rural Voices USA:   | | | | | | — President Biden issued an executive order aimed at diverting a strike on U.S. freight railroads. The railroads have seen numerous disruptions lately that have inhibited the shipment of U.S. agricultural goods. — Europe is facing a deadly heat wave, setting off dangerous wildfires throughout the continent. The blazes and heat could endanger crops, throwing another wrench into an already teetering global food supply. — The entrance of a Chinese-owned corn mill has divided the city of Grand Forks, N.D., the New York Times reports. Some members of Congress have been aggressively lobbying against China being able to buy farmland and the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment to its 2023 spending bill that would outlaw it. THAT'S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: gdowns@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Rural Voices USA: Rural Voices USA and farmers across the country thank President Biden for supporting American-made E15 biofuels. By taking action to lift unnecessary restrictions on E15 during the summer, the President took concreate action to help consumers at the pump. Unlocking E15 not only drives fuel savings when we need it most, it also supports American farmers, rural jobs and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. In 2020, over 10% of America's motor gasoline consumption came from ethanol - clean fuel grown by America's farmers. By boosting America's ethanol production, we can raise that amount and help farmers and consumers. Learn More. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
Comments
Post a Comment