WASHINGTON, May 3, 2016 - The ambitious goal set out by the Obama
administration to complete negotiations this year with the European Union on
the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) may have just got
more complicated after Greenpeace leaked what the group calls secret documents
showing the positions of U.S. and EU negotiators.
Greenpeace says the documents show that the U.S. is trying to get the EU to
back off its precautionary principle in favor of a more lenient attitude
towards things like biotechnology. But there are few specifics in the leaked
text and plenty of broad statements like one in the agriculture section
in which the U.S. calls for “encouraging and supporting research and education
to develop innovative new agricultural products and strategies that address
global challenges related to the production of abundant, safe and affordable
food, feed, fiber and energy.”
A spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative slammed third-party
analyses, saying: “While the United States does not comment on the validity of
alleged leaks, the interpretations being given to these texts appear to be
misleading at best and flat out wrong at worst … T-TIP will preserve, not
undermine, our strong consumer, health, environmental standards, and position
the U.S. and the EU to work together to push standards higher around the world.
We look forward to having a fact-based discussion about what T-TIP seeks and
does not seek to achieve."
Rice makes its T-TIP case. The next round of U.S.-EU negotiations won’t be held
until July, but the USA Rice Federation got to make its case for increased
access to European buyers during last week’s meetings in New York City.
USA Rice Chairman Dow Brantley huddled with U.S. negotiators before the
meetings started and Kristen Dayton, the group’s policy manager made a
presentation to both sides.
"The EU imports many types of rice grown in the U.S., but employs a
complex tariff regime that hurts our export interests," Dayton said.
"Tariff eliminations on all U.S. exports to the EU are a key objective for
U.S. negotiators."
Indiana holds fate of stop-Trump effort, Stutzman. Today’s Indiana primary
may be one of the last real chances for Republicans who are opposed to Donald Trump
from stopping him locking up the nomination before the Cleveland convention.
Indiana is widely considered to be one of the most hospitable states left on
the calendar for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. But he has still been trailing Trump by
an average of 9 percent in recent polls, according
to RealClear Politics.
The trade issue cuts both ways in Indiana. Although the state's farmers benefits
from exports of corn, soybeans and pork, Trump has appealed to anger about the
state’s losses in manufacturing jobs.
Meanwhile, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, a fourth-generation farmer and Tea Party
favorite who
is one of the most vocal proponents for removing nutrition programs from
the farm bill, is trying to defeat fellow House member Todd Young for the GOP
Senate nomination.
Indiana Republican leaders are said to be wary of a repeat of what happened in
2012 when another Tea Party favorite, Richard Murdock, knocked off incumbent
Richard Lugar and then lost the general election race. The winner of today’s
primary will face former Democratic Rep. Baron Hill. The incumbent, Dan Coats,
is retiring.
USDA boosts funding to combat antibiotic resistance. The Obama
administration continues to focus its efforts on reducing the threat of
antibiotic resistant germs, often found in the food supply. The USDA announced
Monday it’s adding another $6 million in funding for research.
“Through our Antimicrobial
Resistance Action Plan, USDA is leading the way to better understand how
antibiotic resistance develops, find alternatives to antibiotics, and educate
people on practices that reduce the need for antibiotics,” Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a release.
Make sure you check out the full story by
Agri-Pulse’s Whitney Forman-Cook.
Rural electric group brings concerns to Capitol Hill. The National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association is in D.C. this week for its annual
legislative conference. Beyond the closed-door co-op policy meetings, members
are hitting the Hill to deliver their concerns to lawmakers.
Among the actions being called for by the group that represents more than 900
electric co-ops is legislation to improve federal land management practices in
order cut down on the risk of fires where utilities have operating rights.
“Streamlining federal government management practices on these federal lands
will make it easier for electric co-ops to maintain safety and reliability by
performing needed vegetation management to prevent threats to power lines and
respond to emergencies,” a spokeswoman for the group said.
Another priority for the co-op group is an extension of the geothermal tax
credit under the tax code. “Highly-efficient ground-source heat pumps
deserve tax parity with other alternative energy sources like wind and solar
that had their tax incentives extended in 2015,” the spokeswoman said.
Obama makes new TPP argument. President Barack Obama on Monday put out a
new argument in
favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, echoing a theme popular with
his cabinet members in recent months: If the U.S. doesn’t lead the way in
trade, China will. And the communist country won’t do it in a way that
Americans will like.
Speaking in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post, Obama warned
that China was already gathering countries together to form a broad trade pact
while the fate of the TPP is uncertain because of opposition in Congress.
“As we speak, China is negotiating a trade deal that would carve up some of the
fastest-growing markets in the world at our expense, putting American jobs,
businesses and goods at risk,” Obama said in the column. “This past week, China
and 15 other nations met in Australia with a goal of getting their deal, the
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, done before the end of the year.”
Oxfam America to USDA: Keep your peanuts. Oxfam America and more than 60
other organizations sent a letter to USDA yesterday calling for the immediate
cancellation of a planned shipment of U.S. peanuts to Haiti.
“While the gesture may be well-intentioned, this program stands to become the
latest in a long history of U.S-sponsored programs that have destabilized
Haiti’s agricultural sector, driving the nation further into poverty while
increasing its dependence on foreign aid,” the groups said in their
letter. “Peanuts play a central role in Haiti’s economy and are a critical
foundation of its food security and food sovereignty.”
Oxfam America said the 500-metric-ton shipment would have “devastating
consequences” for “at least half a million rural people in Haiti, especially
women, whose livelihoods depend on peanuts and the production chain to make
manba (Haitian peanut butter).”