April 22, 2025
USTR Takes Action to Restore American Shipbuilding
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative took targeted action to restore American shipbuilding and address China’s unreasonable acts, policies, and practices to dominate maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. These actions come after a year-long Section 301 investigation. “Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce,” says USTR Jamieson Greer. “Our actions here will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships.” The actions will occur in two phases. For the first 180 days, applicable fees will be set at $0. After that, fees on vessel owners and operators of China-based vessels on net tonnage per U.S. voyage will increase exponentially over the following years. Fees on operators of Chinese-built ships based on net tonnage or containers will increase incrementally in the following years. Actions also include incentivizing U.S.-built liquefied natural gas vessels.
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Ag Groups React to USTR Shipping Announcement
The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office released its final actions related to Section 301 fees on Chinese-made vessels arriving at American ports, making significant changes from the initially proposed actions. “Our concern all along has been that any fees placed on Chinese vessels could be passed on to American farmers who rely on those ships to export corn,” says National Corn Growers Association President Kenneth Hartman, Jr. “While we are still working to understand how this new version will impact the corn industry, we believe this final action is more workable than the initial deal.” The U.S. Grains Council says the notice from USTR will allow most U.S. grain and co-product exports to continue without added costs on Chinese-built but not Chinese-operated bulk vessels. “After a year-long investigation, this decision was made with the best interest of U.S. grain producers in mind,” says Ryan LeGrand, USGC President and CEO.
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Important Crop Deadlines Drawing Closer
The USDA reminds agricultural producers that the final date to apply for or make changes to their existing crop insurance coverage is quickly approaching for summer planted crops, annual forage, and forage seeding. Sales closing dates vary by crop, but the next major sales closing dates are May 1, July 15, and July 31. Producers are encouraged to visit their crop insurance agents soon to learn specific details for the 2025 crop year. Crop insurance decisions must be made on or before the applicable sales closing date. The USDA’s Risk Management Agency lists sales closing dates in the Actuarial Information Brower under the “Dates” tab. Producers can also access the RMA Map Viewer tool to visualize the insurance program date choices for acreage reporting, cancellation, contract change, earliest planting, end of insurance, end of the late planting period, final planting, premium billing, production reporting, and other types of important information.
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Court Affirms Mexican Tomato Dumping in the U.S.
The Court of International Trade confirmed findings from the Department of Commerce that Mexican companies dumped tomatoes into the U.S. market at significant margins, with some as high as 273 percent. Most other companies assigned a dumping margin of 17 percent. Robert Guenther, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, responded to the ruling. “We look forward to the Department of Commerce imposing antidumping duties under U.S. law at the Court-approved levels as soon as the suspension agreement terminates on July 14,” Guenther said. The member companies of the Florida Tomato Exchange produce over 90 percent of the tomatoes grown in Florida and are among the largest producers of tomatoes in California, Georgia, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. FTE member companies also produce approximately 50 percent of the fresh-market tomatoes grown in the U.S. The Court of International Trade is based in New York City.
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Hemp Planted Acreage Jumps 64 Percent
The value of U.S. industrial hemp production reached $445 million in 2024, representing a 40 percent increase over the prior year. That’s according to the National Hemp Report that came out last week. Total planted area for hemp jumped to almost 45,300 acres, 64 percent higher than in 2023, with harvested area also rising to just under 32,700 acres. Floral hemp has emerged as the industry’s driving force, with production more than doubling to 20.8 million pounds, a 159 percent increase over the previous year. Feed and Grain Dot Com says both acreage and yield contributed to the growth. Harvested area was up 60 percent, and per-acre yields climbed to 669 pounds to reach 1,757 pounds per acre. The report said floral hemp production accounted for 87 percent of the total value of hemp grown in the open. Seed hemp showed the most dramatic increase in value, surging almost 500 percent to $16.9 million.
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Secure Sheep and Wool Supply Plan Workshops are Scheduled
In the first three months of 2025, three European Union countries experienced outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease, which illustrated the importance for livestock producers to be prepared. Sheep producers have two in-person opportunities in the coming months to learn more about how the American Sheep Industry Association’s Secure Sheep and Wool Supply Plan can help them prepare for a possible outbreak in the U.S. Trainings are scheduled in Iowa on May 9 and Nevada on June 5 as part of the USDA’s National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program Grant secured by the American Sheep Industry Association. In all, 11 states have had or will host similar training opportunities in 2025 thanks to the grant. “Stopping disease transmission from farm to farm and animal to animal is the first step in protecting your animals from diseases,” says Carolyn Ihde (EYE-dee), small ruminant specialist at the Iowa State Extension Service.
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