Farm groups are warning Congress that revoking China’s trade status could set off a new trade war that would have serious repercussions for the ag economy.
A select House committee that has been investigating U.S.-China relations is considering a series of policy recommendations today that could include ending China’s permanent normal trade status, an action that could lead to higher tariffs on Chinese exports.
“By revoking China’s PNTR status, Congress would open up U.S. farmers and ranchers to immediate, additional retaliation from China,” more than a dozen farm groups say in a letter to the committee. The letter cites a recent Oxford Economics Report estimating Chinese retaliation would ultimately slash U.S. ag exports by 30%.
“It would be impossible for farmers and ranchers to fully make up this lost market share anywhere else in the world and it would undo decades of progress for Americans whose livelihoods depend on robust trade, including with China,” the letter goes on.
Take note: Among groups that signed the letter are the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Milk Producers Federation, National Sorghum Producers, The Almond Alliance, Farmers for Free Trade and the U.S. Apple Association.
Take note: China committee member Dusty Johnson told Agri-Pulse Monday evening the recommendations remained under discussion in recent days. “It’s remarkable how hard the committee has worked to really try to get all parts of this report into a place that members can be comfortable with, and that there’s broad consensus that these things will make America strong,” said the South Dakota Republican who’s also a member of the House Ag Committee.
WIC could turn away 2M participants if not fully funded
A new analysis from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children would face a roughly $1 billion shortfall in 2024 absent additional funding. Anti-hunger advocates say without a fiscal 2024 boost, 2 million parents and young children would have to be put on a waiting list.
CBPP explains if there is a funding shortfall, states must follow criteria established in regulations to prioritize serving the most medically at-risk applicants. Some potential recipients may choose not to apply if they begin hearing applicants are being denied or if there’s a long waiting list.
If Congress simply extends the current funding levels, USDA can transfer funds from other USDA nutrition programs to shore up WIC. However, CBPP says this authority is limited and could only close roughly half the $1 billion shortfall.
House to take up Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act on Wednesday
The House Rules Committee has approved the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act for Wednesday floor action.
During committee consideration on Monday, Thompson, the House Ag chair, said “outdated and out-of-touch federal regulations” have imposed restrictions on the types of milk students have access to for school meals and led to a steady decline in school milk consumption.
“I’m excited it’s one step closer to assuring that our children or youth have access to the best possible nutrition,” Thompson told Agri-Pulse. “It doesn’t force-feed anybody anything, just expands the choice to whole milk which is literally 3.5% milk fat, usually 3.25% milk fat, and flavor.”
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., opposed the bill, saying it goes against the science-based Dietary Guidelines for Americans and “attempts to legislate nutrition standards.” In addition, Scott and House Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern, D-Mass., questioned why the bill wasn’t being considered more holistically as part of child nutrition program reauthorizations.
Thompson says he believes House Education and Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., will be managing the bill on the floor.
Southwestern Democrats ask Interior for Rio Grande assistance
Four Democratic senators are asking the Interior Department to pool more resources into combating drought in the Rio Grande Basin, including some of the $4 billion in funding the agency received through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet of Colorado told Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a letter that stakeholders in the region are “struggling to access federal funding to improve aging infrastructure, increase water conservation and efficiency efforts, or scale watershed restoration projects.” They requested the agency develop a “strategic plan to increase the pace and scale of locally led water security efforts” in the basin.
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The Rio Grande provides drinking water for an estimated 12 to 13 million people and irrigates an estimated 1.8 million acres of crop and pasture land, the senators said.
House Natural Resources Committee to host hearing on Snake River Dams
The House Natural Resources Committee today will examine federal agencies’ plans to resolve a dispute over salmon declines in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, including ideas that were laid out in a recently publicized draft settlement document.
Among the witnesses invited to the hearing are Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, Bonneville Power Administration Administrator John Hairston, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Richard Spinrad.
EDF says excess – or not enough – water a product of climate change, bad management
When it comes to water in agriculture, it’s either feast or famine.
That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund that finds “intensifying climatic extremes” are combining with “groundwater over-extraction, sprawling drainage networks and misaligned governance” to create a situation that can create “climate whiplash,” as when Iowa saw record flooding in 2011 followed by extreme drought in 2012.
Excess water damaged the corn crop to the tune of $10 billion between 1989 and 2016, the report said.
What’s to be done? The authors recommend a mix of measures including transitions to climate-resilient crop mixes, increased use of soil conservation practices, on-farm water recycling and natural infrastructure for drought and flood resilience.
They said it. “While we share the committee’s concerns about many of China’s practices, passing the burden on to farmers to address those concerns is the wrong approach.” – Farm groups, writing in the letter to the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and Chinese Communist Party.
Philip Brasher, Jacqui Fatka and Noah Wicks contributed to this report.
