The U.S. Congress often accomplishes more during lame duck sessions, the period after an election and before new members are sworn in, because those retiring from office converge with moderates to accomplish fundamental needs. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is retiring, and he has such a dream. He envisions a grand bargain that addresses the serious holes in U.S. trade policy. These include:
Reauthorizing the Generalized System of Preferences (relatively non-partisan) Reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance (a priority for Democrats) Establishing Trade Promotion Authority solely for a U.S. – United Kingdom FTA (relatively non-controversial) Establishing policies for better addressing the trade challenges posed by China (a bipart...
What You Need to Know Today: The G7 agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude oil and fuel reserves over four months, with a substantial diesel release front-loaded into the first 20 days. The announcement initially pushed crude oil lower on Friday, although it later recovered a portion o...
In a recent social media post, R-CALF unveiled its latest cattle market plan: “contracts that bind producers before establishing a base price, then tie that price to future negotiated cash transactions, should be prohibited.” That proposal aligns with recent legislation by Represent...
Key Takeaways: The recent pearl-clutching from parts of the beef industry regarding the loss of the daily Kansas fed cattle negotiated trade pricing report is overwrought and ignores the fact that the direction was readily apparent. The shift away from negotiated trade has been well docu...
