President-elect Donald Trump is bringing China hawk Peter Navarro back to the White House as a top trade adviser, adding to a trade team that features a mix of Wall Street veterans and protectionist policy specialists. In other words, the trade team for Trump’s second term looks a lot like the first.
“We had a lot of the differences of opinion in the other prior administration,” a former Trump official told Agri-Pulse. “The president likes debate.”
Trump’s first term included Robert Lighthizer, a trade hawk, as U.S. trade representative, alongside Wall Street figures such as Wilbur Ross and Steve Mnuchin. Trump has similarly tapped Jamieson Greer, Lighthizer’s former chief of staff, for USTR and businessmen Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent to head Commerce and Treasury, respectively.
Grassley raises ag market access with USTR pick
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Wednesday met with Greer and highlighted the need to expand market access for U.S. agriculture, according to his office.
Grassley sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which vets USTR nominees before a Senate vote. The Iowa senator stressed to Greer the need to negotiate new trade deals and reverse Brazil’s reinstated tariffs on U.S. ethanol. Grassley expressed support for the African Growth and Opportunity Act — which provides certain products from sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market.
In a post to X, Grassley said he enjoyed hearing Greer’s thoughts on trade, “esp[ecially] for agriculture & improving the economy.”
APHIS says it will provide guidance on GE crops in ‘coming days’
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is “determining next steps” in light of a federal court decision that has thrown a wrench into the agency’s approval process for genetically engineered crops.
In a notice to stakeholders, APHIS noted that the decision does not affect decisions made before the court opinion was issued Dec. 2. The agency said it would provide guidance on its regulatory activities “in the coming days.”
A federal judge in California vacated the 2020 SECURE rule after finding APHIS failed to adequately address concerns raised by scientists about the potential harm of using GE crops.
Trump gets electric co-ops’ to-do list
Rural electric cooperatives are giving the incoming Trump administration a list of regulatory issues they want addressed, starting with scrapping new carbon emission standards on power plants.
The list laid out in a letter from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to the president-elect also calls for “fixing broken permitting regulations” and “repealing harmful public lands and species conservation rules.”
In addition, NRECA wants to kill a plan that would eventually remove the Lower Snake River dams in the Pacific Northwest.
“The electricity supplied by cooperatives is vital to rural economies. Continued rural development requires access to affordable, reliable electric power, as well as access to high-speed broadband,” the NRECA letter says.
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“Regulations that are not cost-effective and increase the cost of producing that electricity, or that threaten its availability, pose serious threats to the rural American economy.”
Keep in mind: An EPA rule being challenged in the courts requires existing coal plants to adopt the use of carbon capture and storage by 2032. The requirements also apply to new natural gas-fired power generation.
Company withdraws application for Iowa pipeline project
Wolf Carbon Solutions has asked to withdraw its application for a planned CO2 pipeline project in Iowa.
The company was planning to capture carbon from two ethanol plants owned by Archer-Daniels-Midland in Iowa and transfer it to a sequestration site in Illinois. However, Wolf withdrew an application for the pipeline in Illinois in 2023, after the state Commerce Commission recommended regulators deny the permit because it lacked a final agreement with ADM.
In the filing, Wolf said the company has continued to build relationships with landowners and stakeholders, but a number of factors have continued to delay the endeavor. Therefore, Wolf said it “decided to cease pursuit of the required regulatory approvals at this time.” The company said it could make a new determination on new filings once it there is more certainty around its plans.
Landowners and groups that opposed the project say the decision to withdraw the applications indicates the project is unlikely to continue.
Stabenow says goodbye on Senate floor
Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., gave her farewell speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Speaking specifically of farming, Stabenow said that in every elective office she has held, she has served on the ag committee. “I've understood that we don't have a strong economy unless somebody makes something and somebody grows something. … It's been my privilege to put my stamp on our nation's farm and food policy.”
“As the author of the specialty crop title in the farm bill, I'm grateful that the full diversity of farms, small and large, are now reflected in our funding in our agriculture policy,” she said. “I'm so pleased that families across our country have access to healthy, locally grown foods through farmers' markets and urban agriculture, and our children can count on permanent funding for summer meals and other critical food assistance.”
Final word
“We appreciate the temporary reprieve provided by the injunction and hope Congress can take a cue from the courts in the coming weeks to provide a more permanent resolution to this problematic policy.” – American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall after a Texas judge blocked the Treasury Department from requiring businesses to start filing reports disclosing their ownership.
