Election day focus on Virginia | Methane regs | Covering cover crop program
In Today’s Digital Newspaper
Market Focus:
• Fed’s inflation-is-transitory approach may be transitory
• A look back at Fed speak
• Supply-chain problems keep getting worse
• Deere vote today
• Europe faces a further squeeze on natural gas supplies
• Iron ore futures extends decline below $100/ton
• Ag trade update
• Contract highs in wheat overnight
• China stock-up directive flares food shortage concerns
• StoneX raises corn, soybean crop estimates
• HRW CCI declines, SRW rating inches up
• Consultant cuts Argentine soybean crop estimate
• China’s hog sector out of balance
• Wholesale beef prices rise, but movement slows
• Cash hog fundamentals continue to weaken
Policy Focus:
• CFAP payment totals move little in most recent week
• Manchin: Will not support Biden’s revised spending plan without ‘greater clarity’
• Potential cover crop program getting lots of attention
• Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) payments triggered for September . Payments for certain coverage levels under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program
• USDA touts payouts coming under ARC, PLC programs
Biden Administration Personnel:
• Senate panel to vote on FERC nominee
• Senate to vote on several nominees
China Update:
• China buying more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. than ever
• China locks 30,000 visitors inside Shanghai Disneyland after Covid-19 case
• China stock-up directive flares food shortage concerns
• China’s hog sector out of balance
Trade Policy:
• ITA preliminary determination on imports of organic soymeal from India
Energy & Climate Change:
• Biden to announce tougher regulations on methane emissions
• India announces climate pledges
• Ambassadors from several countries call out extra tax credit for union-made EVs
Livestock, Food & Beverage Industry Update:
• Burger King partnering with Robinhood to dole out $2.6 million of crypto
• OMB review of USDA plan to revise import rules for sheep, goats relative to BSE
Coronavirus Update:
• Biden administration moving ahead with mandates at private-sector
• White House comments on vaccines for kids
• Amazon says fully vaccinated workers can skip face masks
Politics & Elections:
• Local and statewide elections being held today
• Sabato’s Crystal Ball moves Va. governor races to “Leans Republican”
• Today will determine three House seats
Congress:
• FY 2022 spending
• Democrats ready latest immigration plan
Other Items of Note:
• Russia-Ukraine tensions
MARKET FOCUS
Equities today: Global stock markets were mostly weaker in overnight trading. The U.S. stock indexes are pointed to steady to slightly higher openings. Asian equity markets finished lower as traders balanced US market gains against pending announcements by the US Federal Reserve on monetary policy. The Nikkei was down 126.18 points, 0.43%, at 29,520.90. The Hang Seng Index was down 54.65 points, 0.22%, at 25,099.67. European equities are mixed in early action with an eye on earnings updates. The Stoxx 600 was down 0.1% while other markets were mixed with losses of 0.6% to gains of 0.6%.
U.S. equities yesterday: The Dow gained 94.28 points, 0.26%, at 35,913.84. The Nasdaq rose 97.53 points, 0.63%, at 15,595.92. The S&P 500 was up 8.29 points, 0.18%, at 4,613.67.
On tap today (see detailed list of events and reports below):
• Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting (FOMC).
• China’s Caixin services index for October is out at 9:45 p.m. ET.
Fed’s inflation-is-transitory approach may be transitory. Recent data have pointed to some broadening in price pressures, a pickup in wage growth and a continued run of higher prices for certain goods that have already seen acute inflation this year.
A look back at Fed speak: When Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke at the Kansas City Fed’s virtual conference on Aug. 27, he detailed a five-part dashboard that the central bank was closely monitoring and that, he said, explained why officials could be confident that inflation would decelerate without tightening monetary policy. “One by one, the metrics Powell cited in that speech are signaling more intense inflation pressures,” said Tim Duy, chief U.S. economist at SGH Macro Advisors.
Supply-chain problems keep getting worse. The Institute for Supply Management on Monday reported that its manufacturing index registered 60.8 for October, down slightly from September’s 61.1 but still signaling strong growth in the sector. Anything over 50 indicates expansion. Of note, all five of the subindexes that go into the overall manufacturing index signaled expansion, but among them the highest was the supplier-deliveries index.
The deliveries index is based on how quickly suppliers are fulfilling orders — the more manufacturers reporting that supplies are taking longer to arrive, the higher the index goes. Currently, supply-chain bottlenecks and shortages are what is slowing deliveries down, and keeping factories from manufacturing as much as they would like to.
Deere vote today. Striking UAW members at Deere and Co. were scheduled to vote today on a proposed contract that includes a 10% pay raise in its first year and improved healthcare for retirees.
Market perspectives:
• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index is slightly higher amid weakness in the euro, yen and British pound against the greenback. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is weaker, trading around 1.55%, tracking slight declines in global government bond yields. Gold and silver futures are weaker, with gold trading around $1,792 per troy ounce and silver around $23.92 per troy ounce.
• Crude oil prices are under pressure ahead of U.S. trading with U.S. crude trading around $83.35 per barrel and Brent around $84.25 per barrel. Futures were slightly higher in Asian action, with U.S. crude up 19 cents at $84.24 per barrel while Brent was up 26 cents at $84.97 per barrel.
• Europe faces a further squeeze on natural gas supplies after Russian flows through transit routes fell and Algeria stopped some shipments to Spain. Benchmark gas futures on Monday surged up to 15% before paring gains — as Russian gas started flowing eastward from Germany to Poland, while pipeline damage in Bulgaria also impacted shipments from Gazprom to some parts of Europe. Spain’s deal to ship Algerian volumes via Morocco expired.
• Iron ore futures extended a decline below $100 a ton on shrinking steel output in China and signs economic growth is facing mounting headwinds. Prices in Singapore slumped for a fifth day as the world’s top steelmaker ramped up efforts to cap annual steel volumes. While China has imposed curbs on production throughout 2021, restrictions are now being rolled out more frequently and limits have been extended into the first quarter.
• Ag trade: Japan is seeking 143,396 MT of wheat from the U.S., Canada and Australia in its regular weekly tender.
• NWS weather: Lake Effect snow accumulations possible across portions of Michigan and New York through the early afternoon... ...Quasi-stationary boundary to bring heavy rain to portions of the Southern Plains on Wednesday... ...Unseasonably cool temperatures to persist across the Central and Eastern U.S. as above average temperatures emerge out West.
Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:
• Contract highs in wheat overnight
• China stock-up directive flares food shortage concerns
• StoneX raises corn, soybean crop estimates
• HRW CCI declines, SRW rating inches up
• Consultant cuts Argentine soybean crop estimate
• China’s hog sector out of balance
• Wholesale beef prices rise, but movement slows
• Cash hog fundamentals continue to weaken
POLICY FOCUS
— CFAP payment totals move little in most recent week. Total payouts approved for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) edged up slightly to $18.77 billion as of Oct. 31, up from $18.76 billion the prior week, as original CFAP 2 payments moved up to $13.95 billion from $13.94 billion the prior week. The top-up payments changed little during the most recent week and are at $4.82 billion.
Total CFAP 1 payments also stood nearly unchanged at $11.79 billion as of Oct. 31, with $10.6 billion in original CFAP 1 payments and $1.19 billion in top-up payments.
— Manchin says he would not support President Biden’s revised spending plan without “greater clarity” about its effects on the economy, complicating Democrats’ efforts to pass it and a separate infrastructure bill. During a press conference Monday (link), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said:
- “The political games have to stop,” he said of the progressive hostage strategy on the infrastructure bill. “It is time to vote on the BIF [infrastructure] bill — up or down — and then go home and explain to your constituents the decision you made.” He said he won’t vote for a reconciliation bill until there’s a vote on infrastructure.
- “As more of the real details outlined in the basic framework are released, what I see are shell games, budget gimmicks, that makes the real cost of the so-called 1.75 trillion-dollar bill estimated to be almost twice that amount” if the programs are made permanent and not phased out, he said.
- “This is a recipe for economic crisis. None of us should ever misrepresent to the American people what the real cost of legislation is.” And he suggested he’s prepared to vote against the bill if he thinks it will hurt the country by adding to the debt burden or inflationary pressures.
- Take your pick. “I’m open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward,” Manchin said. “But I’m equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country.”
Bottom line: Progressive Democrats overplayed their hand, and the White House’s effort to link the two infrastructure measures is causing uncertainty as to the fate of both bills. If election results in Virginia today show a major Republican win, that could make some Democrats leery about moving ahead. It is now clear that the much-hyped BBB framework should not have been released without the public support of Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and perhaps others. After weeks of saying that they wouldn’t vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill until they get clear assurances that Manchin and Sinema will back the Build Back Better Act, leading House progressives now say they’re ready to vote for both this week — evidence they overplayed their hand. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told her leadership team that the Rules Committee could meet Wednesday on this legislation, signaling a possible floor vote by the end of the week on BBB and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Some want an official Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score before voting for the measure, a process that could take a while. It would likely take CBO two weeks to score, House Budget Chair John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said Monday night. “If we vote on the bill this week, we will not have a score,” he said. Reports have surfaced that Democratic leadership could move to “deem” the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed as part of the rule on floor debate for reconciliation. Meanwhile, Pelosi is scheduled to go to Glasgow next week for a global climate-change conference, and that is why she wants this all wrapped up beforehand.
— Potential cover crop program getting lots of attention. President Joe Biden’s proposed Build Back Better (BBB)/reconciliation package would provide $27 billion to $28 billion in conservation spending, including a new $25-per-acre payment to farmers for planting cover crops. Those payouts would not be subject to payment limits, but there is a 1,000-acre limit. There is also a $5-per-acre payment to the owners of a farm where a producer establishes one or more cover crop practices, which is also limited to 1,000 acres.
— Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) payments triggered for September. Payments for certain coverage levels under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program have been triggered by the national average margin for Sept. 2021 of $6.93 per hundredweight (cwt). Operations with Tier 1 DMC coverage levels of $9.50, $9, $8.50, $8, $7.50 and $7 per cwt. will be triggered, with payments for Tier 2 DMC coverage levels of $8, $7.50 and $7 per cwt. will be triggered. The payments will range from $0.07 per cwt. for $7 coverage levels up to $2.57 for $9.50 coverage levels. DMC payments are triggered when the when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price — the margin — falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.
— USDA touts payouts coming under ARC, PLC programs. Eligible producers will receive a total of $1.8 billion in payments for 2020 crops under the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs this month. No PLC payments were triggered for corn, sorghum, or soybeans, but were triggered for several other crops including wheat ($819 million), seed cotton ($450 million) and peanuts ($365 million) for a total of $1.73 billion. Under the ARC County (ARC-CO) option, payments were triggered for all covered commodities totaling $56.7 million, with the largest totals for corn ($25.0 million) and wheat ($21.4 million). Another $19.5 million were issued under the ARC Individual (ARC-IC) option, putting total payouts under all three program options at $1.8 billion.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL
— Senate panel to vote on FERC nominee. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is poised to vote on the nomination of Willie Phillips to be a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), putting him one step closer to joining the regulatory body. Full Senate approval of the nomination would give Democrats a three-to-two majority on FERC. Phillips currently chairs the DC Public Service Commission.
— Nominations: The Senate will hold three votes at 11 a.m. ET on whether to invoke cloture, or limit debate, on the nominations of:
- Jonathan Davidson to serve as deputy undersecretary of the Treasury Department;
- Benjamin Harris to be an assistant secretary of the Treasury Department; and
- Isobel Coleman to be a deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The Senate will vote at 2:20 p.m. ET on whether to invoke cloture on Jeffrey Prieto to be an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Rajesh Nayak to be an assistant secretary of the Labor Department. The Senate plans to vote at 5:15 p.m. ET on confirmation of Davidson to serve as deputy undersecretary of the Treasury Department.
CHINA UPDATE
— China is buying more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. than ever. The activity has helped send prices soaring. It is a result of China’s effort to cut carbon emissions by reducing how much coal it burns. LNG prices have surged in response. Benchmark rates for spot deliveries into Asia hit $56 per metric million British thermal unit early in October, more than 10 times where they were at the same point a year earlier. Prices have since fallen but a cold winter could cause them to jump again.
— China locks 30,000 visitors inside Shanghai Disneyland after Covid-19 case. The visitors to the Shanghai Disneyland theme park were kept within the park’s gates on Sunday and forced to undergo Covid-19 testing after a customer tested positive for the virus, a move that underscores China’s eradication efforts. Meanwhile, authorities in Beijing suspended classes at some schools due to rising cases as the Asian nation continues to pursue a Covid-zero strategy. A government warning to stock up on daily necessities in preparation for the winter months or emergencies is only adding to the fears.
About half the flights to and from Beijing’s two airports were cancelled today as China’s capital tightened travel restrictions after a trickle of new Covid cases in the city and other parts of the country in the last few days.
— China stock-up directive flares food shortage concerns. The Chinese gov’t instructed families to keep daily necessities in stock in case of emergencies ahead of winter. The commerce ministry issues such notices every year, but its instruction came earlier this year because of recent flooding in the main vegetable growing area of the country that caused prices to surge and amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. The ministry’s statement urged local authorities to ensure supply and stable prices, and to give early warnings of any supply problems. The commerce ministry said local authorities should buy vegetables that can be stored and strengthen emergency delivery networks. Information about prices and supply and demand of commodities should be released in a timely manner to calm consumer fears.
— China’s hog sector out of balance. China’s massive hog sector is dealing with excess pork production after millions of small farmers started raising hogs as China’s leaders called for an urgent recovery following the African swine fever outbreak. While most of the small, first-time hog farmers are now losing money raising hogs, many of them haven’t culled their herds, hoping for a rebound in profits. Wang Chuduan, professor at China Agricultural University, told an industry meeting it will likely take another large disease outbreak in the country this winter to eliminate some of the excess supply.
TRADE POLICY
— ITA preliminary determination on imports of organic soymeal from India. Imports of organic soymeal from India are being or are likely to be sold in the U.S. at less than fair value (LTFV), according to a preliminary determination from the Department of Commerce International Trade Administration (ITA) published today in the Federal Register (link).
The ITA review determined there was an estimated average dumping margin of 18.85% on imports from several firms with a rate of 3.11% for all other firms.
Comments on the findings are due 30 days after being published in the Federal Register.
One of the companies named in the investigation — Bergwerff — requested that ITA delay its final determination in the matter and that will now be made no later than 135 days after today’s publication.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) will now make a determination on whether the imports are materially injuring or threaten material injury to the U.S. industry. That determination is due no later than 120 days after this preliminary determination or 45 days after the final determination.
ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE
— Biden to announce tougher regulations on methane emissions from oil and gas production. President Biden on Monday called methane cuts the “most effective strategy we have to slow global warming in the near term.” EPA will propose rules to plug methane gas leaks at hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells in the U.S. — the review of EPA’s plan on methane emissions was just completed by OMB on Monday, Nov. 1. The agency’s measures will strengthen current regulations on new oil and gas wells and impose new requirements for existing wells that previously escaped methane regulations. Biden will formally announce the proposals during the second day of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
EPA’s proposed plan would strengthen current regulations on new oil and gas wells and impose new requirements for existing wells that previously escaped methane regulations. EPA said that the oil and natural gas industry is the largest industrial source of methane emissions, emitting more methane than the total emissions of all greenhouse gases from 164 countries combined. The proposed rule would reduce 41 million tons of methane emissions from 2023 to 2035, the equivalent of 920 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, EPA said, more than the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from all US passenger cars and commercial aircraft in 2019. In 2030 alone, the rule would reduce methane emissions from sources covered in the proposal by 74% compared to 2005. EPA analyzed the proposed rule’s impact on natural gas and oil prices from 2023 to 2035 and estimates that changes would be small — what EPA said would amount to “pennies per barrel of oil or thousand cubic feet of gas.”
— India on Monday ended its status as a holdout in climate pledges after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070. The timeframe puts it ten years behind China and Saudi Arabia and two decades after the U.S. and European Union. Modi also promised India would receive 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, a goal it is already well on track to achieve.
— Ambassadors from several countries call out extra tax credit for union-made EVs. Provisions in the social infrastructure/Build Back Better (BBB) package to provide an extra $4,500 credit for electric vehicles (EVs) that are made by union workers has drawn the ire of ambassadors from several U.S. trading partners. The officials said in a letter to congressional leaders of both parties that the extra tax credit for EVs made by union workers “would be detrimental to international automakers and vehicle importers” and would “violate international trade rules, disadvantage hard-working Americans employed by these automakers, and undermine the efforts of these automakers to expand the U.S.” Limiting the credit to only union-made vehicles “based on their US domestic assembly and local content is inconsistent with U.S. commitments made under WTO multilateral agreements,” the officials said. “It puts U.S. trading partners at a disadvantage and tarnishes the spirit of trade laws that seek to establish the free and fair movement of goods. Our governments support workers’ right to organize. It is a fundamental right and should not be used in the framework of tax incentives, setting aside the opportunities for nearly half of America autoworkers.” The provisions would also work against U.S. climate commitments, the officials noted.
LIVESTOCK, FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
— Burger King is partnering with Robinhood to dole out $2.6 million of crypto to loyalty club members. Burger King has a total of 20 bitcoin, 200 ether, and 2 million dogecoin available to distribute. Similarly, Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks said they’ll give $100 in bitcoin to people who download the trading app Voyager Digital. The crypto platform recently announced a five-year partnership with the NBA team, marking the industry’s latest foray into sports.
— OMB review of USDA plan to revise import rules for sheep, goats relative to BSE. The Office of Management (OMB) has completed its review of USDA’s plan to amend regulations imports of live sheep, goats, and certain other non-bovine ruminants, and products derived from sheep and goats, regarding bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie. USDA is removing BSE-related import restrictions on sheep and goats and most of their products and adding import restrictions related to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies for certain wild, zoological, or other non-bovine ruminant species. USDA said the action is based on the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) rules.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
— Summary: Global cases of Covid-19 are at 247,129,735 with 5,005,638 deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. case count is at 46,091,924 with 747,033 deaths. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center said that there have been 423,005,384 doses administered, 192,586,927 have been fully vaccinated, or 58.7% of the U.S. population.
— Biden administration is moving ahead with mandates that workers at private-sector businesses be vaccinated against Covid-19, giving companies more details on implementation and setting the issue up for further legal challenges. President Biden’s vaccine mandate for private-sector businesses with 100 or more workers — and details on how the requirement will work — will likely be released later this week, according to reports. The gov’t separately on Monday released guidance on the mandate for federal contractors, which has been a factor for many large companies imposing vaccination requirements.
— White House comments on vaccines for kids. “Starting the week of Nov. 8, the kids vaccination program will be fully up and running,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said in a statement. The CDC is scheduled to meet today to assess approval for Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds, while the Biden administration has already begun transferring 15 million doses to facilitate immunizations at pediatricians’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals and health centers.
— Amazon says fully vaccinated workers can skip face masks. Starting today, Amazon will no longer require fully vaccinated U.S. warehouse employees to wear masks at work, unless mandated by state or local law. Vaccines are universally available across the U.S. and vaccination rates continue to rise which enables the ability to return to our previous mask policy,” Amazon told workers.
POLITICS & ELECTIONS
— Local and statewide elections being held around the country today. These elections will determine the governors of Virginia and New Jersey and the mayors and other leaders of New York City, Atlanta, Minneapolis and other places — Minneapolis is deciding whether to replace its police department and Atlanta’s mayoral contest has been dominated by concern over a jump in violent crime. They will also decide the fate of ballot measures on election rules, local taxes and other issues.
Meanwhile, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, an elections forecaster, yesterday changed its rating for the Virginia governor race to “Leans Republican” from “Leans Democratic,” which the race had been listed as since March. Republicans haven’t won a statewide race in Virginia since 2009. President Biden won Virginia by 10 percentage points last year, but his approval ratings have dipped, making him a potential drag on McAuliffe. Roughly a fifth of Virginia’s 5.9 million electorate cast early ballots, nearly six times more than in 2017. The Virginia governor’s race has been a reliable bellwether ahead of midterm elections.
— Today will determine three House seats. Voters in two Ohio congressional districts and one Florida district head to the polls today to fill vacancies in the House:
- In the 11th District, a Black-majority Democratic bastion in and around Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown is overwhelmingly favored to replace Marcia Fudge, who’s now Biden’s housing secretary. In a first, Brown would become the third consecutive Black woman to represent the district, following Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D) and Fudge.
- In the 15th District, a Republican-leaning area of south-central Ohio, Republican Mike Carey is favored against Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo. Carey, a coal industry lobbyist, ran as an ally of former president Trump.
- In Florida’s 20th District, a Black-majority swath of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, the winner of an 11-candidate Democratic primary will be a shoo-in to win the Jan. 11 special election and succeed the late Alcee Hastings (D). Democratic candidates include health-care executive Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Broward County commissioners Barbara Sharief and Dale Holness, state Sen. Perry Thurston, and state Reps. Omari Hardy and Bobby DuBose.
CONGRESS
— FY 2022 spending. The four principals of the House and Senate Appropriations committees will get together today to work out their differences. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas), chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, will sit down with Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the chair and ranking member of Senate Appropriations. Republicans want billions more for the Pentagon, while Democrats are seeking to spend more on social programs. The current stopgap spending measure runs through Dec. 3.
— Democrats ready latest immigration plan. House Democrats are exploring a narrowed immigration proposal that would offer protections to farmworkers and “Dreamers” brought to the U.S. as children, though the plan’s prospects in the Senate remain to be seen. The approach would tighten an existing proposal — already informally rejected by the Senate’s top rules interpreter — to update the federal immigration registry law to offer a path to citizenship for people who arrived in the U.S. before 2010. House Democrats last week included the registry plan in draft text of their social spending and tax package.
OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE
— Russia-Ukraine tensions. Ukrainian officials have denied reports of a Russian troop buildup near its borders following reports of an increase in troop movements in recent days. Over the weekend, the Washington Post reported that U.S. and European officials were concerned over “irregular movements” of equipment and personnel in western Russia unrelated to scheduled military exercises.
EVENTS AND REPORTS
Tuesday, Nov. 2
· Elections. Elections for governor and other races taking place in some states.
· U.S. nutrition. Senate Agriculture Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research Subcommittee hearing on “The State of Nutrition in America 2021.”
· Border carbon tax. Bipartisan Policy Center virtual discussion on “The Political, Climate and Economic Arguments for a Border Carbon Adjustment,” referring to “a trade tool that levels the field for domestic manufacturers by imposing a fee on carbon-intensive products when they reach the border.
· Battery technology. United States Energy Association virtual discussion on “Advanced Battery Technologies and the Energy Transition.”
· Steel trade issues. American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Manufacturers Association news conference to discuss “a number of key steel issues such as trade policy, infrastructure and steel sustainability.”
· Financial market issues. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association virtual 2021 meeting with the theme “The Intersection of Public Policy and Finance.” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, SEC Chair Gary Gensler and House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) deliver remarks.
· Korean peninsula. Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion on “the latest situation on the Korean peninsula,” as part of the Capital Cable series.
· GSA priorities. House Transportation and Infrastructure Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee hearing on “The General Services Administration’s Priorities for 2021 and Beyond.”
· Online marketplace. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Cleaning Up Online Marketplaces: Protecting Against Stolen, Counterfeit, and Unsafe Goods.”
· 9/11 and emergency communications. House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Subcommittee hearing on “20 Years After 9/11: Examining Emergency Communications (Part 2).”
· LIBOR. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on “The Libor (London Inter-bank Offered Rate) Transition: Protecting Consumers and Investors.”
· Afghanistan and the Middle East. Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program virtual discussion on “Implications of Afghanistan Withdrawal for the Middle East.”
· Votes on energy, other nominees. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee markup to vote on the nominations of Geraldine Richmond to be Energy undersecretary for science; Brad John Crabtree to be assistant Energy secretary for fossil energy and carbon management; Asmeret Asefaw Berhe to be director of the Energy Department’s Office of Science; M. Camille Calimlim Touton to be commissioner of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation; Laura Daniel-Davis to be assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management; Charles Sams III to be director of the National Park Service; Willie Phillips Jr. to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and Sara Bronin to be chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
· Sustainable air travel. Politico virtual discussion on “The Future of Sustainable Air Travel.”
· Paid family leave. House Ways and Means Republicans virtual roundtable discussion on “Washington Control of Paid Leave and Child Care Strips Choice from Families and Harms Small Business.”
· 5G. New America virtual discussion on “Leveraging Underutilized 12 GHz Airwaves for 5G Competition and Digital Equity.”
· Digital currencies. Cato Institute virtual forum on “Digital Currency: Public or Private?”
· Health of agricultural workers. Health Resources and Services Administration teleconference of the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health on issues related to migratory and seasonal agricultural worker health; runs through Friday.
· Covid issues. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention teleconference of the Board of Scientific Counselors’ Center for Preparedness and Response.
· Marine transport of hazardous materials. Coast Guard teleconference of the National Chemical Transportation Safety Advisory Committee to discuss matters relating to the safe and secure marine transportation of hazardous materials.
· Clean energy trade. International Trade Administration teleconference of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee to discuss a proposed recommendation in response to the Department of Commerce’s request for input on the Clean Technologies Export Competitiveness Strategy.
· China policy. The Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion on “Looking Ahead: The Quad’s Strategic Approach to China, Taiwan, and the Indo-Pacific.”
· Economic report. Motor Vehicle Sales
· Energy reports. Revised CPC loading program (November) | Russian monthly production data | API US inventory report