Trade

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The World Trade Organization squeaked out a win in the final hours of its summit this week in Geneva, agreeing to prohibit all of its 164 nations from refusing to provide food commodities to the World Food Program for its humanitarian efforts.

The U.S. International Trade Commission is considering finalizing the process of slapping duties on key foreign sources of urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer, but three GOP lawmakers are urging the agency to reverse course out of consideration for U.S. farmers, who are dealing with widespread inflation and supply chain disruptions.

The Biden administration on Thursday pledged to help repair Ukraine’s agriculture sector from the damages of the Russian invasion even as the war rages on and farmers struggle to bring in crops.

Farm groups will be keeping a close eye on the Supreme Court when it kicks off its new term in October.

Ukraine’s farmers are preparing to begin this year’s problematic summer harvest on the 75% of fields not under Russian occupation, but producers, analysts and political leaders are preoccupied with the broader question of where the grain will be stored as efforts falter to reopen exports through Black Sea ports.

The Supreme Court has set Oct. 11 as the date when the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation will be able to make their final case for overturning Proposition 12, a California ballot initiative that would require pork sold in the state to come from sows afforded a minimum amount of space.

The Department of Justice has subpoenaed records from meat processors, though it is currently unclear which ones and how many.

The House of Representatives voted 369-42 Monday to approve the Senate’s version of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act in an effort to reduce bottlenecks at U.S. ports and improve conditions for agricultural exports. The overwhelming vote sends the legislation to the White House, where President Joe Biden says he will sign it.

The House is set today to clear the Senate-passed Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which empowers the Federal Maritime Commission to take steps to clear port bottlenecks and reduce shipping rates.