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Former President Donald Trump made a case to House Republicans for higher tariffs on China to protect U.S. industries, lawmakers said after the meeting with him on Capitol Hill Thursday.

The Port of Baltimore, a major national shipping point for farm equipment equipment and commodities including sugar, has fully reopened for commerce following the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

House Republicans are proposing more modest cuts to spending at USDA than GOP appropriators tried last year, but they also are attempting to block USDA's new regulations for the meat and poultry industry and slow down new food traceability requirements.

The U.S. ag trade deficit continues to grow. USDA is now projecting it will reach $32 billion for fiscal 2024, up from $16.7 billion in FY23.

Richard Crowder, a longtime economist and agribusiness leader who served as former chief agricultural negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative during the George W. Bush administration, has died at the age of 84.

USDA on Wednesday increased its forecast for agricultural imports for fiscal 2024, while projected ag exports remain unchanged at $170.5 billion, boosting the estimated U.S. ag trade deficit to $32 billion.

USDA is awarding commodity groups the first $300 million in trade promotion grants under a $1.2 billion initiative known as the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program and funded through the department’s Commodity Credit Corporation spending authority.