USDA WASDE, Crop Production Reports on Friday

White House comments on Sen. Manchin | Klobuchar wants to get rid of filibuster | Covid aid

Washington Focus

The Biden administration will push ahead with its pursuit of a proposed $3.5 trillion spending package, said White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond. That comes despite a plea by centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to hit "pause" on the $3.5 trillion social infrastructure package. Manchin points to concerns about what he calls “runaway inflation.”

     Manchin is “a valued partner. We're going to continue to work with him," Richmond said during an appearance on ABC's This Week when asked about Manchin’s warning. "Part of this ... is just the sausage-making process at the end. It just happens. And this is happening in public view," Richmond added. "But it's not abnormal for this to happen in the legislative process. And we're still full steam ahead on trying to get our legislation passed."

     Manchin should be “very persuadable” by the argument that the package as envisaged “adds nothing to the debt,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain said on CNN’s State of the Union. “We’ve worked with Senator Manchin every step of the way,” Klain said. “We’re going to work together to find a way to put together a package that can pass the House, that can pass the Senate, that can be put on the president’s desk and signed into law.”

     Meanwhile, Richmond dismissed the notion that it has become more difficult for Biden to get his agenda passed through Congress with majority support. "I think what really will happen is people will start to realize what we need, the challenges that we're facing. We have to really take an assessment of what the American people are dealing with right now. They're dealing with Covid and the Delta variant. They're dealing with Hurricane Ida. They're dealing with a number of things," Richmond said. Klain also pushed back against the notion that Biden’s agenda could be headed for defeat in Congress this fall. “All I’ve heard is how this package is going to be dead,” he said. “And yet, amazingly, it continues to advance.”

Sen. Klobuchar says the Senate needs to eliminate filibuster to protect abortion rights. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said on Sunday that the Senate should eliminate the filibuster to protect women’s abortion rights after the Supreme Court last week declined to block a Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

     Asked on CNN what Democrats could realistically do to protect abortion rights for women in Texas as a result of the ruling, Klobuchar said, “My solution to this, which is my solution for voting rights and so many other things, including climate change, where one side of the country is in flames, the other side of the country is flooded, with people dying submerged in their cars, I believe we should abolish the filibuster… We just will get nowhere if we keep this filibuster in place.”

Some alternative tax increase ideas are being mulled to offset some social infrastructure spending. A Senate Finance Committee options list suggests a $5 million per-person exemption for capital gains of $1 million along with a potential $25 million exemption for family farms. One potential middle ground would impose taxes on the owner’s full gain but defer taxes until the asset is sold.

     Discussions are being held regarding whether the entire eventual cost of the social infrastructure will have to be offset.

Regarding Afghanistan, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, claimed that the Taliban are not allowing planes carrying Americans to leave Afghanistan. The congressman said “zero” Americans have been able to leave the country since the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan less than a week ago because the Taliban are holding them "hostage."

     Biden administration officials are hearing abroad after Afghan pullout. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin left Sunday for the Middle East to meet local officials, express U.S. gratitude for help with the evacuation and discuss ways to help others escape from Afghanistan. Around 1,000 people are stranded in Afghanistan awaiting Taliban approval for departure, with Biden administration officials saying “around 100” of them are Americans.

Covid aid announcement Tuesday. On Tuesday, Sept. 7, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack will hold a press call to announce a new grant program that will provide assistance for farm and food workers impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Economic Reports for the Week

On the economic calendar, updates on producer prices, wholesale inventories and jobless claims will be closely watched. The release of the Federal Reserve Beige Book on Sept.  8 will be a focus for central banks watchers.

Wednesday, Sept. 8

• MBA Mortgage Applications
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Consensus estimate is for 10 million job openings on the last business day of July. In June, there were 10.1 million openings, the fourth consecutive monthly record.
• Federal Reserve reports consumer credit data for July. Total outstanding consumer debt increased by $37.7 billion to a record $4.32 trillion in June. For the second quarter, consumer credit rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 8.8%, reflecting pent-up demand.
• Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book for the sixth of eight times this year. The report summarizes current economic conditions among the 12 Federal Reserve districts.

Thursday, Sept. 9

• Jobless Claims for the week ending on Sept. 4. In August, claims averaged 355,000 a week, the lowest since the pandemic’s onset. This will also be the last week that the extra $300 from federal enhanced unemployment benefits is available. They are set to expire by Sept. 6.
• Fed Balance Sheet
• Money Supply  

Friday, Sept. 10

• BLS reports the Producer Price Index for August. Economists forecast a 0.6% monthly rise along with a 0.5% increase for the core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices. Both jumped 1% in July.  

Key USDA & international Ag & Energy Reports and Events 

Key USDA reports come Friday with the WASDE and Crop Production reports.

Monday, Sept. 6

     Ag reports and events:

• Holiday: Labor Day
• CNGOIC monthly report on Chinese grains & oilseeds
• Malaysia Sept. 1-5 palm oil exports

Tuesday, Sept. 7

     Ag reports and events:

• Export Inspections
• Crop Progress
• China’s first batch of August ag trade data
• Australia’s September crop report
• U.S. Purdue Agriculture Sentiment
• EU weekly grain, oilseed import and export data
• Holiday: Brazil

     Energy reports and events:

• China’s first batch of August trade data, including oil trade

Wednesday, Sept. 8

     Ag reports and events:

• Broiler Hatchery
• Food Security in the U.S.
• Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States
• Citrus Fruits
• Meat Atlas 2021
• StatsCanada releases data on wheat, barley, canola and durum stockpiles

     Energy reports and events:

• API weekly U.S. oil inventory report
• EIA releases Short-Term Energy Outlook
• Genscape weekly crude inventory report for Europe’s ARA region

Thursday, Sept. 9

     Ag reports and events:

• Brazil’s Conab report on yield, area and output of corn and soybeans
• Port of Rouen data on French grain exports
• UkrAgroConsult Black Sea oilseed conference

     Energy reports and events:

• EIA weekly U.S. oil inventory report
• U.S. weekly ethanol inventories
• EIA natural gas storage change
• Russian weekly refinery outage data from ministry
• Insights Global weekly oil product inventories in Europe’s ARA region

Friday, Sept. 10

     Ag reports and events:

• CFTC Commitments of Traders report
• Weekly Export Sales
• WASDE
• Cotton Ginnings
• Crop Production
• Cotton: World Markets and Trade
• Grains: World Markets and Trade
• Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade
• World Agricultural Production
• Peanut Prices
• China farm ministry’s CASDE outlook report
• Malaysian Palm Oil Board data on August stockpiles, output and exports
• FranceAgriMer weekly update on crop conditions
• Malaysia Sept. 1-10 palm oil export data
• Holiday: India

     Energy reports and events:

• Baker Hughes weekly U.S. oil/gas rig counts