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U.S. and Japanese negotiators have reached an “agreement in principle” on a trade deal that would lower Japan’s tariffs on U.S. agricultural commodities and spare Japan from threatened U.S. industrial tariffs, sources — confirming reports out of Japan — tell Agri-Pulse.

The U.S.-China trade war escalated again for the second time Friday after President Donald Trump declared the U.S. would increase rates for existing tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods as well as boost tariffs on $300 billion worth of imports that haven’t yet been levied.

The Agriculture Department sharply increased commodity payment rates for its 2019 trade assistance package, boosting the corn rate by 14-fold and quadrupling cotton’s, based on higher estimates of the trade damage that farmers have suffered.

China announced Friday it will increase tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. agricultural and other goods by 5-10% in retaliation for U.S. plans to hit about $300 billion worth of Chinese exports with new import taxes.

China on Thursday issued a stern new warning that it will be forced to retaliate if the U.S. follows through on a threat to levy new import tariffs, beginning Sept. 1.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is proposing a sweeping 10-year plan to carry out the Green New Deal and reshape U.S. agriculture through regulations and subsidies to reduce its environmental impact and push farmers into organic methods and smaller scales of production.

Brandon Lipps and Pam Miller have new roles at the Department of Agriculture, and USDA will have another mission area led by deputy undersecretary rather than a Senate-confirmed official.

China is threatening to retaliate against the latest U.S. tariffs President Donald Trump threatened, according to a release from Xinhua News, a government-run media outlet.

Democratic presidential candidates looking to break through in rural areas are seeking advice on farm policy from activists, farmers, economists and organizations, and those ideas are popping on the stump, in detailed policy proposals as well as in debates.