Policy Update
President Trump unveiled a $12 billion farm aid package yesterday, as producers continue to absorb steep financial hits from ongoing trade disputes, rising costs, and weak commodity prices.
China has purchased at least 14 cargoes of U.S. soybeans for shipment in December and January—around 840,000 metric tons—marking its largest single buying round of U.S. beans since at least January.
EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a revised rule on Monday aimed at clearer permitting and fewer regulatory surprises, such as narrowing which water features fall under federal oversight and confirming exclusions.
New USDA export data show that China has bought only a small fraction of the U.S. soybeans it pledged after last month’s meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Late last night, President Trump signed a congressional funding measure after the House voted to approve it 222-209, ending the record long federal government shutdown.
Just two weeks after the announced trade truce between China and the United States, Chinese purchases of American soybeans have unexpectedly stagnated, and traders now say they see no new orders coming in.
The USDA is fighting court orders to distribute full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November despite the looming reopening of the federal government.
Passed by the Senate last night, a new stopgap spending bill to fund the government through January 30 includes a one-year extension of key Farm Bill programs.
Trump administration officials are standing firm after a tense Supreme Court oral argument this week cast doubt on the legality of the president’s sweeping tariff authority.
During oral arguments yesterday, multiple justices challenged the argument that the president may impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.
China has confirmed that beginning November 10, it will suspend retaliatory tariffs but will retain the 10% levy and 13% tariff on U.S. soybeans.