Ag Policy
The tit-for-tat on tariffs between the U.S. and China continues, with China announcing on Friday a new rate of 125%, which is up from the 84% announced earlier this week. That pushes the tariff on U.S. pork and pork variety meat to 172%. The new soybean tariff is more than 150%.
Although vague, Trump’s comments during his Cabinet meeting are the most detailed the administration has provided on the fate of farmworkers without legal status — who make up half the farm sector’s workforce — under his plan for mass deportations.
With four companies controlling 85% of the beef market and 67% of pork, four U.S. senators are seeking to beef up enforcement of anticompetitive practices in the meatpacking industry.
Arlan Suderman, StoneX Chief Commodities Economist says the markets reacted positively to the 90-day delay on reciprocal tariffs for countries that reached out to negotiate with the U.S. and did not retaliate.
California’s Proposition 12 has devastated family farms, fueled market consolidation and increased food costs. Legislators brought forward The Food Security and Farm Protection Act to protect farmers and consumers from “burdensome government overreach.”
After China retaliated with its own tariffs, the U.S. said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China would take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by Trump’s sweeping tariff plan.
Trust, certainty and stability are key to building and maintaining relationships with trade partners, says NPPC president Duane Stateler.
Non-tariff barriers, which also include food safety regulations, are “orders of magnitude” more important than tariff rates.
How is the U.S. pork industry reacting to China slapping an additional 34% tariff on U.S. pork exports?
China accounted for 14% of total U.S. beef export volume last year and 15% of export value as well as 15% of total U.S. pork export volume and 13% of export value, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
President Trump has announced a series of reciprocal tariffs, scheduled to roll out over the next few days, on some of agriculture’s most significant trade partners. The potential outcomes are worrisome to some U.S. industry leaders and farmers.
Under the previous strategic plan, NARMS sought to expand its One Health approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and the shared environment.
In a Wednesday morning press conference, ahead of Trump announcing his global tariff plan, Sheinbaum says Mexico will “announce a comprehensive program, not a tit for tat on tariffs,” but added, “we have a plan to strengthen the economy under any circumstance.”
Sen. Roger Marshall and Rep. Ronny Jackson introduced the Dietary Guidelines Reform Act of 2025 to modernize the development of federal dietary guidelines with up-to-date, evidence-based nutritional information.
A federal district judge upheld Iowa’s trespass law, concluding the law is constitutional.
Why are the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendations raising red flags with some experts?
The March Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor asked economists if they think the U.S. general economy will see a recession in 2025. 62% said yes.
Veterinarians are vital to the work of America’s farmers and ranchers and the integrity of our food supply chain. Yet many areas of the country suffer from lack of access to their services, saysRep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.).
The U.S. exported more than $850 million of pork to Canada in 2024, while that country sent $1.7 billion of pork to the U.S.
With tariffs and trade in focus again, a recent AgWeb poll asked farmers if they support President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating strategy.
The majority of respondents in the March Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor agree the U.S. is currently in a trade war, but who wins? Ag economists say it’s not the U.S., Canada or Mexico but rather Brazil that could come out on top.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says the agency is hyper-focused on poultry, but no vaccine is yet available. The agency has ‘separate work streams’ to address the virus in the ‘cattle and dairy’ industries, but dairy is not part of USDA’s primary focus for now.
Tariff whiplash is consuming the commodity markets — and the possible impact is stirring up quite the debate. At present, President Trump says he’s sticking to his plan to impose additional tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China starting April 2.
After years of waiting and mixed signals, pork producers respond to USDA’s action to extend waivers allowing pork processors to operate at higher line speeds.
Rollins takes action to streamline U.S. pork and poultry processing.
U.S. pork producers now have maintained access and increased certainty to export their products to the 1.4-billion-person Chinese market, says NPPC CEO Bryan Humphreys.
The agency will hold at least six listening sessions for stakeholders between late March and into April. Persons or organizations wishing to provide input will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis.
NPPC’s Maria Zieba says this is a unique time in global history. NPPC just filed comments to the U.S. Trade Representative in response to the retaliatory duties comments that were due and set to take effect on April 2.
While many farmers are comparing the current threats of tariffs and trade wars to the situation they endured in 2018, Joe Vaclavik believes this time will be better.
The suspension comes as Washington and Ottawa have engaged in a heated dispute over trade tariffs.