Stuck in the Swamp
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WHITE HOUSE |
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BERNIE SANDERS |
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U.S. AGRICULTURE |
WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE LAWSUIT? The
Obama administration's controversial interim final rule that lowers the bar for
contract poultry growers to sue under the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration is set to go into effect less than three weeks from today - that
is, if Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue doesn't stop it first. What the
secretary decides to do could provide a hint into who his administration is
looking to prioritize: farmers or agribusiness.
A rock and a hard place: GIPSA rules are a lose-lose situation for
Perdue. Scrapping the interim final rule and the two proposals - which is well
within his authority to do - would draw the ire of poultry producers, of which
there are many in Perdue's home state of Georgia. They currently have little
recourse against unfair treatment from companies they contract with.
But putting in place the measures would lead to outcry from some
Republican lawmakers and meat industry groups who supported his nomination and
argue that the rules as written are overly burdensome.
The third option: Perdue could also
choose to delay the rule again - arguing that because of his shoestring staff
at the department, the rule hasn't received the review it needs. That move that
would further kick the can down the road. The interim final rule's effective
date was delayed by the Trump administration first in February and again in
April - before Perdue was confirmed - to allow time for review. It is set to go
into effect Oct. 19. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 2,
2017]
TRADE
On heels of NAFTA Round 3, Trump pushes wine case: California
accounts for nearly 90 percent of U.S. wine exports, so it's no surprise local
producers were big fans of the
Obama administration's decision to file a WTO challenge of British Columbia's
wine sale restrictions just two days before leaving office. The Trump
administration took up the case and last week requested consultations with
Canada - the first step in the dispute-settlement process.
USTR asserts the measures discriminate against imported wine
because only wine from British Columbia is allowed to be sold on regular
grocery-store shelves, while imported bottles can be sold in the province's
grocery stores only through a so-called store within a store. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 3, 2017]
The return of TTIP? Rukwied and representatives from other EU farm groups
were in Washington on Tuesday chatting with their counterparts in NAFTA
countries as part of an annual powwow of the groups. While the EU isn't a party
to NAFTA, groups there are paying very close attention to the negotiations
between Mexico City, Ottawa and Washington to see if it offers and tips for
reviving the U.S.-EU trade deal, TTIP. Though it's still unclear what will
happen, Rukwied said there was optimism that NAFTA could be a "guideline
for TTIP." [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 4,
2017]
Those serious issues include dairy trade with
Canada, which Perdue said is "very unfair"
to the U.S. He said he expected dairy to be discussed in the next round along
with poultry. Dairy gains with Canada may be tough to achieve - and the U.S.
perspective plays a role in that. "I have spoken with governors for whom
agriculture is very important," Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told POLITICO on Wednesday, "and
for the most part they don't want to blow up the supply chain that exists now,
and that's been a pretty consistent message across the board." [POLITICO's Morning
Agriculture, October 5, 2017]
As for Japan, the
Trump administration is "eager to enter into a bilateral trade
negotiation," both to lower trade barriers and to address the preferences
Tokyo has given to other countries, like Australia, for agricultural imports.
"We think our geopolitical relationship with Japan should lead to a
preferred status in (trade) as well," he [Perdue] said. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 5, 2017]
Praise for the WTO: The secretary heaped praise a handful of times on the case at
the WTO over China's use of tariff-rate quotas on grains, which the Obama
administration launched in December. "We need to use
this same tool to bring other countries to the table," he said. "USDA
is looking at all available resources to help ramp up litigation
activities." [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 5, 2017]
Duty on Chinese garlic imports here to
stay: The U.S. International Trade Commission voted
Wednesday to keep in place an existing duty on imports of fresh garlic from
China. The commission found that revoking the anti-dumping duty would "be
likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a
reasonably foreseeable time." China produces roughly 75 percent of the
world's garlic, per figures from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 5, 2017]
There is a "very serious risk" the Trump administration will withdraw from NAFTA,
depending on the president's popularity and the investigations into his
campaign's contact with Russia during the election, former U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Zoellick predicted Thursday. He urged Congress to be
prepared to push back against such a move. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 6, 2017]
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So far, GOP operatives believe that Trump is his
own brand apart from the Republican Party. If that changes, it could be a major
drag on GOP incumbents in the 2018 midterms.
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READ |
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FOOD SAFETY |
Calls for tougher oversight of imported
seafood: Food safety advocates have long raised alarm
about how more than 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported,
often from countries with lax regulations like China, India and Vietnam. Now,
in a newly released report, the GAO is urging the FDA and USDA to prevent
seafood with unsafe drug residues from entering the country. The report also
calls on the Food Safety and Inspection Service to visit a sample of fish farms
overseas as part of its on-site audits of processing facilities. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 3, 2017]
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WORK |
The House Democratic Caucus' "Jobs for America"
task forces have sent requests to business, labor, and
educational leaders in recent days asking them to share best practices in
several areas including hiring veterans, workers' comp and expanding training
programs. In addition, they wrote to Trump urging him to develop an
infrastructure rebuilding plan. The end goal: A slate of jobs-focused
legislation to be released early next year as part of Democrats' Better Deal
agenda.
QUICK VOTE COMING ON GOODLATTE'S H-2A BILL: It's
committee crunch time from the get-go for a House bill to revamp and expand the
agricultural guest-worker program. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.)
introduced a new version of
his Agricultural Guestworker Act on Monday and scheduled a committee vote for
Wednesday - true to his word to push it on a "tight timetable."
Goodlatte, who attended an immigration-focused dinner with
Trump and other Hill leaders on Monday night, gave committee members little
more than a day to read the 49-page bill and decide whether to vote for it.
What's in it: The bill would essentially
scrap H-2A in its current form, rename the visa program H-2C and house it
within USDA. The program, which now provides guest-worker visas for
temporary/seasonal agricultural jobs, would allow agricultural employers in
need of year-round workers to apply. It would give workers in specialized and
hard-to-fill jobs an initial stay of 36 months, and subsequent visas would
offer an 18-month work period. Employers would not be required to provide
housing and transportation to workers.
Prospects for passage: If 2013 is any indicator,
the bill's biggest challenge will be reaching the House floor. That year,
Goodlatte, a former immigration attorney, spearheaded a bill by the same
name, H.R. 1773 (113). It cleared
committee in a 20-16 vote, but was never taken up on the House floor.
Which industries benefit? National Milk Producers
Federation and more than 60 dairy groups wrote a letter to
Goodlatte calling the bill a "significant, positive step forward" in
the effort to ensure a steady workforce. The National Pork Producers Council
echoed that assessment. "The current visa programs are not working for
pork producers or for the broader agriculture community. The Goodlatte bill
will rectify this," NPPC President Ken Maschhoff said in a statement. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 3, 2017]
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POVERTY |
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HEALTHCARE |
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ADDICTION |
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YOU DECIDE |
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| A photo inside the White House from a tipster with the pages on the right showing "the number of pages in the [Code of Federal Regulations] today, which is a measure of all regs on the books (Fed Register are just new ones), versus the # about a half-century ago" on the left side. |
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you
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