The House and Senate resumed session on Monday after the Thanksgiving break.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said an aid package for farmers could be announced soon and could come as soon as this week.
Deputy AG Secretary Stephen Wadden hints at payment plan Recent changes in commodity markets will be taken into account.
In an analysis released last week, The American Farm Bureau Federation warned that five of the seven major crops are facing higher than average losses. This year. AFBF said rising input costs and export uncertainty are increasing economic pressure on producers and increasing the need for further assistance.
But some farm program critics are pressing the administration to learn from aid programs launched in Trump’s first term to improve efficiency and avoid overspending. A group of non-profit organizations wrote Rollins and Luke Lindbergh, USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, argued last week that any aid should be subject to strict payment limits and oversight.
The groups, including the R Street Institute, Farm Action and Taxpayers for Common Sense, pointed to a 2022 review of the 2018-2019 Market Facilitation Program by the Government Accountability Office, which found that $800 million went to ineligible recipients or were not in the correct amounts. A separate review also found underlying issues with the way USDA calculated tariff impacts.
“USDA should take prudent steps to deliver aid where it is most needed and avoid unnecessary spending or waste that could worsen our fiscal outlook,” the groups argue.
One of the biggest issues facing lawmakers this month is the expiration of extended premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance policies. Democrats have been promised a vote on the issue in the Senate this month.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that Democrats would benefit politically if Republicans do not block the expansion.
“If they don’t want to do anything about people’s costs and their grocery bills and their health care and want to burden them with these punitive Trump tariffs, then we’re just going to have to defeat them in the midterms. We have no other choice.”
The White House has reportedly ruled out a two-year extension of ACA subsidies, and Trump told reporters last week that some type of extension may be necessary. It remains to be seen whether he can take Congressional Republicans along with him.
China soybean monitoring continues
There is just a month left until China’s deadline to order 12 million tons of US soybeans, but Beijing is still far behind the pace. China may still go down to 10 million tonnes Of that commitment, according to USDA sales data.
Trump also seems to be paying attention to the mountain he still has to climb. He told reporters last week that he raised the issue of Chinese ag purchases with President Xi Jinping by phone on Monday and said Xi agreed to increase the pace.
“I asked him – ‘I would like you to buy a little faster. I would like you to buy more,'” Trump told reporters. “He’s more or less agreed to do this.”
After the call, Reuters reported Chinese buyers had ordered another 10 US cargoes worth $300 million.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement on Wednesday that Xi had conveyed the message that the two sides should “continue to move in the right direction on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit.”
But Rollins again stressed on Wednesday that a long-term project would require reducing the industry’s reliance on Chinese sales.
“When our farmers in America are so dependent on one buyer, it’s not healthy for anyone,” Rollins told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo. “The big thing here is that we got these new trade deals, and we’re going to start selling soybeans to a lot of other countries right away.”
Talking about North American business
The office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a three-day marathon listening session on the North American trade agreement as part of the process to gather feedback ahead of its review next year.
The agency will hear from stakeholders on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement from Wednesday to Friday. The free trade agreement, which was struck during Trump’s first term, has a built-in review mechanism that instructs the three parties to review the deal after six years and decide whether to extend, reform or end it after 2036.
The comment period on the deal, which closed earlier this month, received more than 1,500 comments, including Responses from over 100 agricultural groups and over 90 individual farmers and herders,
While the deal has broad support among many in the agriculture industry, many respondents also made recommendations to improve the deal.
But whether an updated agreement would have to be approved by Congress remains a gray area, according to two trade lawyers. agricultural pulse The interview took place last week. The former assistant secretary of the Commerce Department, now a trade lawyer at King & Spalding, said the administration may want to consult with Congress to resolve any issues.
But depending on the scale of the changes, it may not be legally necessary to do so, said Mayur Patel, former chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee. Patel is now a lawyer at Hogan Lovells.
“It’s a bit of a debate between the executive branch (and Congress) about where the line is drawn,” Patel said.
Here’s a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled in Washington and elsewhere this week (all times EST):
Monday, December 1
RNG Coalition Annual Renewable Natural Gas ConferenceAs of Thursday, Dana Point, Calif.
8:30 am – USDA Release outstanding export sales Report for the week ending October 23.
4 pm – USDA Release crop progress Report.
Tuesday, December 2
Agricultural Retailers Association 2025 Convention & Expo, through Thursday, Salt Lake City.
11am – USDA Release Agricultural Income Forecasting Update.
Wednesday, December 3
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office will hold a public hearing on next year’s review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement by Friday.
Organic Growers SummitAs of Thursday, Monterey, Calif.
10 a.m. – Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing rising health care costs430 Dirksen.
Thursday, December 4
8:30 am – USDA Release outstanding export sales Report for the week ending 30 October.
4 pm – The Atlantic Council hosts an event, “Driving the Next Chapter in the US-Mexico Agenda.”
Friday, December 5
3 PM – USDA Release cattle on pasture, chickens and eggsAnd milk production Report.
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