April 8, 2025
Sponsored by the American Farm Bureau Federation
Some Ag Inputs Exempt from Tariffs
Several agricultural inputs are exempt from the ten percent across-the-board tariffs and the higher reciprocal duties applied to specific trade partners. Agriculture Dot Com says that’s according to a list of carve outs published by the White House. Products excluded from the new duties include potash, certain herbicides and pesticides, peat, lumber products, lubricating oils, some energy products, and certain pharmaceuticals, including tranquilizers and vaccines for veterinary use. Diquat and paraquat are among the herbicides listed. Representatives from the agriculture industry and farm-state lawmakers have been pushing the administration for weeks for a slate of exemptions to any new duties. While the exemptions apply to the new ten percent duties and reciprocal tariffs, the list doesn’t apply to the 25 percent tariffs already in place on Mexico and Canada, even though Canada is a major U.S. supplier of some of the listed items. Multiple U.S. ag organizations fought hard for the exemptions.
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Senators Attempt to Stop Tariff Chaos
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025, which would restore congressional oversight over President Trump’s tariff taxes. The bill aims to bring stability and accountability to U.S. trade policy by reestablishing limits on the president’s ability to unilaterally impose tariffs without the approval of Congress. The legislation was also sponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and several others. The legislation follows Senate passage of Klobuchar’s bipartisan resolution with Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) to end President Trump’s tariff taxes on Canadian goods. Altogether, the senators say Trump’s tariff taxes will raise consumer costs by almost $4,000 per household. “The erratic way these tariffs have been announced, unannounced, and re-announced has made it difficult for families and businesses to plan for the future,” Klobuchar said. “The legislation would restore stability to our trade policy by ensuring they’re subject to additional review.”
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NCGA Launching a New Consider Corn Challenge
The National Corn Growers Association is launching the fifth Consider Corn Challenge, a contest in which participants can submit proposals for new uses of field corn that have quantifiable market demand. The Corn Growers Association says biobased products are a win-win for everyone. “NCGA is investing in these biobased solutions and positioning corn as the feedstock of choice,” says Chad Epler, the NCGA Research & New Uses Committee Chair. “To demonstrate our commitment to identifying and developing these new uses, we are increasing the prize by $50,000 to a total of $300,000.” Previous contest winners have scaled up to the next phase of development, received additional grant funding, entered into joint agreements, and obtained registration for state biobased production incentives. If all 19 winners of the first four Consider Corn Challenge contests get to full commercialization with products available in the marketplace, additional corn demand could be approximately 3.4 billion bushels.
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Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Statement on Tariff Policies
The Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Council says the last several months have shaken the foundation of North America’s deeply integrated manufacturing sector. Canadian and American manufacturers are not competitors but “partners,” co-producing goods that sustain millions of jobs and support thousands of communities across both countries. Canada has, for now, avoided the new levies under the reciprocal tariffs announced last week by the Trump Administration. However, the 25 percent tariffs on automotive, steel, and aluminum products remain in effect. “These unfair measures continue to harm manufacturers, workers, supply chains, investment decisions, and overall business confidence,” the Council said. Manufacturers urge both governments to work together to reinforce rather than unravel the North American manufacturing advantage by pursuing a comprehensive renewal of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement to restore trade certainty and bolster industrial resilience across the continent. The Council is asking the government to minimize the collateral damage to manufacturing.
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TFI Applauds Critical Mineral Decision
The Fertilizer Institute thanked members of Congress in both chambers for sending a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in support of potash and phosphate being included on the list of critical minerals. “We thank the multiple senators and representatives for working together and uniting a bipartisan voice urging the Secretary of the Interior to rightfully recognize the essential nature of phosphate and potash,” said TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch. “The majority of the world’s phosphate and potash resources are concentrated in only a few countries, leaving them open to supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical instability.” He also said the events of the past few years have shown us that food security is national security and now is the time to change how we talk about these vital resources. The U.S. imports about 98 percent of its potash needs, most of which (at 85 percent) comes from Canada.
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80-to-90 Billion Dollars Damage from Flooding
AccuWeather says a rare atmospheric river that funneled extreme rainfall in parts of the Central United States caused an estimated $80 to $90 billion in total damage and economic loss. The atmospheric river combined with a multi-day outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes that were caused by a series of slow-moving storms. AccuWeather experts say the atmospheric river, the thunderstorms moving over the same areas, and the rounds of downpours unleashed 8-16 inches of rainfall and even higher localized amounts of around 20 inches in communities across Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana from April 2 to April 6. That triggered extreme flash flooding. Roads and railroad tracks across the region are damaged and even washed away in some spots by the force of fast-moving and rising floodwaters. The damage can and will have long-lasting impacts on commerce routes and shipping logistics in the region.
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