“These are the times that try men's souls.” ― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
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| CLIMATE CHANGE |
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| CANDIDATES |
MANCHIN LEADS, POLL SAYS: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is
leading his Republican opponent, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, in the race
to keep his West Virginia seat, according to a new Monmouth University poll of
West Virginia. In a head-to-head matchup, 49 percent of "all possible
voters" support Manchin, Pro's James Arkin reports ,
while 42 percent support Morrisey. Former coal baron Don Blankenship, who went
to prison for the Massey Energy mining disaster, has vowed to challenge West
Virginia's "sore loser" law in an attempt to run in the general
election as the Constitution Party candidate. With Blankenship on the ballot,
the poll found, 48 percent backed Manchin and 39 percent supported Morrisey,
with only 4 percent backing Blankenship, in the wide screen of "all possible
voters," which includes people who have voted since 2010 or recently
registered. [POLITICO's Morning Energy, June 21, 2018]
CONGRESS VOICES SKEPTICISM AFTER TRUMP ORDERS A NEW SPACE
FORCE: Congressional Republicans and Democrats alike are generally
skeptical of the president's unexpected announcement that he's ordering the
Pentagon to establish a standalone Space Force as a new branch of the armed
forces.
The move quickly drew some backlash from one key senator, who
said Trump was overstepping his bounds by unilaterally calling for the creation
of a new military service.
"The president told a US general to create a new Space
Force as 6th branch of military today, which generals tell me they don't
want," Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a former astronaut, wrote on Twitter.
A spokesperson for the Senate Armed Services Committee added the
administration had not notified the committee in advance of the president's
announcement at a White House meeting of the National Space Council.
On the other hand, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the
subcommittee and a long-time champion of breaking space missions out of the Air
Force, applauded the move.
"I am thrilled to have President Trump's continued support
for this critical mission to help strengthen our national security,"
Rogers said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the president
to make this initiative a reality."
— 'SEPARATE BUT EQUAL': Our colleague
Jacqueline Klimas has more on the president's directive for a new, standalone
Space Force here:
"'We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to
have the Space Force, separate but equal,' Trump said at a meeting of the
National Space Council at the White House.
"'It is going to be something so important.'
"He also asked Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford to
carry out the process of standing up the new military service."
— 'WE UNDERSTAND THE PRESIDENT'S GUIDANCE,' Hours
later, chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a written
statement: "Our Policy Board will begin working on this issue, which has
implications for intelligence operations for the Air Force, Army, Marines and
Navy.
"Working with Congress, this will be a deliberate process
with a great deal of input from multiple stakeholders." [Politico’s
Morning Defense, June 19, 2018]
• EMR Capital has agreed to buy the Cerro Colorado copper mine
in Chile from BHP
Billiton (LSE: BLT) for upwards of $320 million. http://axios.link/DoiZ [Axios
Pro Rata, June 20, 2018]
🚑 ElectroCore, a
Baskin Ridge, N.J.-based maker of non-invasive nerve stimulation devices for
treating migraines, raised $78 million in its IPO. The company priced 5.2
million shares (up from 4.3m) at $15 (middle of range). It will trade on the
Nasdaq (ECOR), while Piper Jaffray was lead underwriter. Shareholders include
Core Ventures and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund. www.electrocore.com [Axios Pro Rata, June 22, 2018]
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| ENVIRONMENT |
USDA'S
PERDUE TRIES DIPLOMACY WITH CANADIAN COUNTERPART: Agriculture
Secretary Sonny Perdue and Canada's Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay
on Friday displayed a united front in support of NAFTA and open agricultural
trade between the two allies. The show of cooperation comes after a week in
which Trump and his administration publicly slammed Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau following the G-7 summit.
"We're
committed to advocating strongly for our farming communities, but also bringing
negotiators at the table informed ideas and discussion about how we can renew
this relationship and continue it for many years to come to the benefit of
producers on both sides of the border," Perdue said during a news
conference in Prince Edward Island, where he held bilateral talks with
MacAulay.
Trump,
Perdue divide on dairy: Trump has repeatedly railed against
Canada's treatment of U.S. dairy imports, including calling for the dismantling
of Canada's supply management system. But Perdue took a different approach, saying
that the purpose of his trip to Prince Edward Island was not to tell Canada how
to handle its dairy policy.
"We're
not here to dictate to Canada the U.S. ambitions — not to dictate to Canada to
do away with its supply management system," Perdue said. Pro Ag's
Catherine Boudreau has more.
Perdue's
take on trade tensions: The USDA leader also said it's too soon
to see if the agency needs to step in and help ease damages producers will
suffer from retaliatory tariffs on American farm goods. However, he'll continue
to consult with the White House and Congress on the issue, he added.
"We've
been talking about mitigation for several months," Perdue told reporters.
"But it's still too early to talk about mechanisms or quantification of
that." [POLITICO's Morning Trade, June
18,2018]
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| U.S. MILITARY |
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| GAMES & SPORTS |
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| U.S. AGRICULTURE |
AG'S TRADE TROUBLES POISED TO GROW: One
important aspect of President Donald Trump's Friday announcement that
$50 billion in Chinese goods will soon face 25 percent tariffs was the timing
of China's response — immediate, and in the form of a statement that went live
in the wee hours of Saturday morning in Beijing. China didn't waste any time
saying that its retaliation would be equal in impact to the U.S. duties and
imposed on the same schedule as Trump's actions. The first wave of U.S.
tariffs, on $34 billion in goods, will start July 6, which leaves little time
for China — assuming the two sides agree to resume trade talks — to make the
bureaucracy-shaking changes needed to prevent the tariffs.
The reality for U.S. agriculture is
that greater pain from retaliatory moves by China — Beijing has already hit
back at Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs — almost looks like a given. Over
the weekend, many a soybean farmer tried to make sense of their
potential future losses, if a trade war with China unfolds and China retaliates
against soybeans and other U.S. agricultural exports. While Brandon Wipf, who
produces 1,200 to 1,300 acres of soybeans in South Dakota, sat in his tractor
late last week, he told your host that the majority of his soybeans are
exported to China because it's too difficult to reach other markets.
"We're not located on the Mississippi River," Wipf
said. "So anything we export is going to go on a train over the Rocky
Mountains to the Pacific Northwest." Since it's too late in the season to
grow anything else, he can only wait to see how bad things may get.
"Pretty much everything is planted at this point. What you've planted is
what you're stuck with."
Reaction from the broader farming world: It's
not just soybean farmers who are worried. Tom Sleight, president of the U.S.
Grains Council, said in a statement that grain farmers "are concerned any
tariff opens this market to our competitors, and locking out U.S. products
doesn't mean trade stops — it means other partners will take our place."
Americans for Farmers & Families, a pro-NAFTA coalition, said in a
statement that with the prospect of a drop-off in business with China,
"Farmers need the North American Free Trade Agreement — and even greater
access to America's second- and third-largest trading partners — now more than
ever."
Retaliation is also on the horizon from other countries angry
at U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. As soon as Wednesday, the EU
could impose tariffs on the U.S. designed to
yield the most political pain — directed at Kentucky bourbon and Wisconsin
cranberries, for example. India this past week also updated its list of proposed retaliatory tariffs, equaling roughly
$240 million and covering 30 products, including almonds and apples. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 18, 2018]
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| UNIONS |
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