Trade

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The USDA’s decision to open the tightly-controlled U.S. sugar market to more foreign sugar comes as a relief for bakers and food manufacturers.

China’s decision in November to lift its ban on U.S. poultry and the subsequent “phase one” trade deal are already boosting U.S. exports for American pet food products and sales to the Chinese market are expected to grow exponentially, spurring hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

President Donald Trump signs into law a $2 trillion economic stimulus package that includes $23.5 billion in aid to farmers and ranchers as well as marketing loan relief.

Congressional leaders have reached agreement on a $2 trillion economic rescue package that would replenish the Agriculture Department’s Commodity Credit Corp. authority and earmark additional money for livestock and specialty crop producers as well as local agriculture.

Producers’ support for President Donald Trump has grown despite sluggish exports and their own worries about their financial condition as the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 has developed, according to the latest Agri-Pulse poll of U.S. farmers and ranchers.

When the coronavirus first swept through China, many ports effectively ceased to function as workers stayed home. Now, fears are rising about similar disruptions in the U.S. as the illness spreads.

The USDA on Tuesday confirmed that China is continuing to follow through on several key provisions in the “phase one” trade deal with the U.S.

A massive economic stimulus bill that congressional leaders are rushing to finish could allow the Agriculture Department to provide multiple forms of aid to different sectors hit by the coronavirus epidemic as well as a fresh round of Market Facilitation Program payments, a key senator says.

Lawmakers may clear the way for another round of Market Facilitation Program payments as well as other aid to producers as part of a massive economic stimulus package that the Senate is expected to consider on Monday.

The Agriculture Department published a list of hundreds of beef and pork production and storage facilities that are now eligible to export to China under the new, less-restrictive regulations negotiated in the “phase one” trade agreement.